


Secrets Kept

by KuroToNoir



Category: citrus - サブロウタ | citrus - Saburouta
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Amamiya is minor character and will appear later, Angst, Eventual Romance, F/F, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Titles, Intersex Character, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Ume also appears a bit later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 17:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19431010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuroToNoir/pseuds/KuroToNoir
Summary: When school delinquent Okogi Yuzu gets scolded for sleeping in class, she goes to the counselor's office and finds out that her grades are too low and might get her an expulsion. She doesn't have a choice but to agree to the school's program of finding a teacher to help lift her grades. She finds the stoic and aloof temporary chairwoman Aihara Mei to be her tutor! Naturally they don't get along. Although with their conflicting personalities Yuzu finds her new tutor intriguing, being successful at her age, she should be happy, right? But everyone has their secrets, including her.Teacher/Student AUAlternate Title: Significance





	1. Brand New Day

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to skip this A/N, I just love to ramble.
> 
> Hi! This is my very first time writing a story for everyone to see. It really took guts just setting it up and posting it here. Though this is my first time posting stuff, I do write fics that I write for myself.
> 
> I don't know what to feel right as I am posting this, it's both excitement and nervousness, but it's a good feeling trust me.
> 
> First of all, I want to talk about why I started writing this, the idea came to my head a long time ago, maybe around the time the manga was only halfway done. And right at that time, I read a ton of teacher x student stories and wondered 'Hey this could work well with citrus!'. And so I spent all my time conceptualizing the story. But of course I was just a student then, and right now I'm a working adult, so basically I didn't have time to finish it. I found the drafts gathering dust in my computer, and figured I should actually start writing this. I originally planned to title it "Significance", but decided not 'cause people might get confused with what it meant in this story.
> 
> I already know I'm not the best writer out there, but hopefully I don't suck at it. Expect mistakes because English is not my first language.
> 
> Tags will be added once the chapter that has them is released, if I get that far...
> 
> By the way this is more of a Prologue than a first chapter anyways, so I'm sorry if it doesn't show much of the story at the moment. Thank you for your time reading my ramblings and hope you like this fic!  
> 

A young girl is seen running towards the direction of a lavishly designed apartment complex based somewhere in the middle of Tokyo. In one of her hands was a paper bag with a part of a sleeve sticking out of it with what looks to be black cloth and frilly white lace.

Once she arrived at the complex, she quickly took off running up the stairs not bothering to call for an elevator to go up to her floor.

By the time she arrived to her floor, she took a moment to catch her breath as she quickly searched for her room number and took out her keys.

_‘I hope nobody’s awake.’_

Unlocking the door, she opened it slowly as to not create any sound. She peeked through the small opening scanning if anybody’s around and found the living room empty. She let out a sigh of relief.

She quietly went inside and closed the door, careful not to make noise. She took off her shoes and put them on the rack and changed into her indoor slippers, then quietly went to her bedroom locking the door.

Once inside, she gave out a huge breath and threw her paper bag somewhere in the room then threw herself face first into her bed, exhausted.

She dug into her pockets to find her phone. It was full of cracks on the screen, being a really old smart phone model.

 _‘I really need to get this phone fixed, this one’s not gonna last.’_ She shook her head. She knew it was nearly impossible, she had way too many expenses already to pay for this one’s maintenance. As they say, don’t fix it if it ain’t broken!

She unlocked the phone and on the home screen background were two people with bright smiles. One was a taller woman with short dark hair, and the other a younger woman with blonde medium length hair. Even beneath the cracks you could see how big their smiles were.

They looked so happy.

The girl smiled at the image.

She let out a yawn while she flicked through her phone searching for the app to set her alarm. Afterwards, she threw the phone somewhere on her bed, put the comforter over herself then prepared to sleep.

_....... beeeeeep ___

____

Not even a minute later her alarm went off. She let out a groan then fished for her phone beneath the sheets then pressed the snooze button. She looked at the time.

____

6 AM

____

_‘Morning already, huh.’_ Technically she didn’t sleep a wink, but she already knew that.

____

“Time to start the day I guess.” She stood up, yawned, stretched then made her bed. Afterwards she went beside her full body length mirror and took a good look at herself and smiled.

____

She looked exactly as the young girl in her phone background photo. Blonde hair reaching the curve of her back, emerald eyes, slender body, small tan, and face full of makeup. Only difference was she had dark bags under her eyes due to lack of sleep, her eyes didn’t share the same radiance in the photo and it was bloodshot as well, her makeup was a mess and she was looking a bit pale. But even with all those imperfections, she still had the same pretty smile. Her smile widened.

____

“Another day to look forward to.” She said to herself like giving herself a pep talk.

____

She quickly started to prepare and went to her closet to take out her clothes for the day. Her school uniform. The uniform was kinda _meh_ , so she added some accessories and changed some things to make it more her style. The school should thank her for making it more fashionable!

____

“I don’t think I have the time to take a shower today, I’ll be late.” She sniffed at herself. “Good thing I took a quick shower at work earlier or else I’ll smell… Well I hope I don’t.” She assured herself then changed into her uniform.

____

After she changed her clothes, she turned to the mirror again to fix her makeup. Her hands worked magic to her face. Like painting a masterpiece on a canvas. Her hands worked all the fine strokes and texture, just the right shade and color. Even the finest detail was done in perfection. And just like that, she looked like she slept a day’s worth or even better.

____

“Thank God to the person who invented make up!” Satisfied with her look, she gave herself a wink then took hold of her school bag and went to her bedroom door. She unlocked it and slowly peeked outside and saw no one around.

____

Quickly tiptoeing to the kitchen to get a slice of bread not bothering to put any condiments on it. She hurriedly went towards the apartment’s door and heard someone puking in the bathroom.

____

Somebody had a little bit too much to drink again.

____

She put her school shoes on while finishing her slice of bread then went outside silently closing the door behind her.

____

She yawned again.

____

“Darn, I really need some sleep! Hope I get a chance later in class.” Walking towards the elevator she pressed the call button. The elevator arrived with a ding and she went inside pressing the ground floor button.

____

“Maybe I could get away with it since I sit at the back.” She said while yawning.

____

Arriving at the ground floor, she stepped outside the elevator and quickly turned heading towards the exit of the building.

____

She suddenly stopped mid step.

____

“I completely forgot!” She facepalmed.

____

She struggled trying to find the chain hooked onto her bag, but eventually found, it was an adorable plush teddy. The bear was worn and dirty, and had lots of stitches and the cloth had discoloration due to its age, but it still held a lot of sentimental value to her. It reminded her of herself.

It was a gift from her mother. 

She then took a deep breath looking around to check if anybody was near. Finding the coast clear, she exhaled.

____

“Good morning Yuzu!” She made the bear greet to herself, together with a waving movement with its small arms. She petted it's fur with her finger then kissed the doll and greeted it a good morning. She might look crazy but to her this bear was her good luck charm. She smiled and continued towards her way to school.

____

Today was a brand new day.

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was obviously Yuzu, sorry, just wanted to set up the story.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Like I said, this is more of a prologue than a chapter 1 so expect more in the next chapter, hopefully. I would really appreciate if you leave a review or comment! It helps me improve, but please be gentle haha... I don't know when I'll update again, but I'll try to finish this story! Until next time!
> 
> P.S. I finished setting this chapter up in an hour but it took me 3 days to work up the courage to post it. I'm a very shy person.


	2. First Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuzu is asleep in class, what's in store for her when she wakes up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Sorry for taking so long, I was busy with work and had no time to finish writing this chapter. Thank you for those who left comments and kudos! I really didn't expect anyone to be interested in this story, you gave me a bit of confidence! 
> 
> This chapter was originally shorter, but while editing it I decided to add a bit more story background that kinda parallels the manga and it grew to about 2000 words. Sorry about that. I apologize if its too long, I tend to put unnecessary phrases in the story so, yeah. 
> 
> Leave a comment if you prefer shorter chapters. 
> 
> Anyways, on to the story!

Aihara Academy is known to be one of the most prestigious girl’s academy there is in Tokyo. It boasts top scoring students from the most well-known of families. It takes a lot of hard work and studying just to pass the entrance exam for this school, even some students need to get a recommendation from the elite if you’re desperate to get in.

Lessons are tough here, students learn how to become a proper lady with the right etiquette, while balancing their heavy workload of extracurriculars and academics. You would be known as an elite yourself if you manage to graduate from this academy. Once out, many opportunities await you in the real world.

That is what makes Aihara Academy stand out from the other schools.

It’s been a few months since school started, almost nearing July and in her third year and Yuzu still couldn’t believe she was attending such a high-class school.

Like, how the hell did she, a girl with an average family, with an average income, less than average grades but with totally amazing looks and fashion mind you, get into this too good to be true school and manage to survive the first two years? But now that she thought about it, they should be grateful to have her there. She made their uniforms look good.

Yuzu stretched a bit as she walked the way to school.

“Why am I still think about this, it's my last year here so I need to make it count.” Yuzu yawned for the nth time that morning.

“I hope I could make it until summer vacation.”

Yuzu continued walking towards the school gates and noticed it was still deserted. She looked around and also noticed that there weren’t any students walking alongside her as well.

“Seems like I’m a bit early today.” She continued walking towards the entrance.

She went inside and changed to her indoor shoes and went straight to her classroom. The school was big, with a ton of classrooms to accommodate the number of incoming students. Yuzu remembered getting lost here on her first day and in turn was late to class. That gave a very bad first impression.

Some people say first impressions don’t last, well to her that’s a huge lie. That first impression lived up to this very day.

Though she surprised herself today for being early. Maybe something good is going to happen today.

Yuzu yawned.

She reached her classroom and like in the hallways, there were no students inside yet.

“At least I get to sleep in peace, finally!” Yuzu said with a happy grin on her face. She went to her desk, which was the one at the back next to the window. She hoped she might get away with sleeping since she gets hidden from the front.

Yuzu hooked her customized bag on the side and prepared to sleep, she looked outside the window. It was a beautiful morning.

“Good morning.” Yuzu said as she slowly closed her eyes, sleep soon following after.

Nothing could have prepared her for what’s going to happen next.

* * *

Inside the chairperson’s office two people were having a small conversation about the possibility for the chairperson to observe a class, as it was protocol to see if everything is up to standards.

Momokino Himeko was a teacher at the school, and she herself gave her students the best quality of education. Though her teaching was her side time job, her real job is being the vice chairperson of the school if ever the chairperson is in need of help, but for the past few months ever since the old chairman got hospitalized and was temporarily replaced by his granddaughter, she hadn’t touched a single paperwork and thus opted to teach to use her time for better use.

“Alright, I will be expecting your arrival, ma’am.” Himeko answered. Currently, the chairwoman needed to check the effectiveness of all the teacher’s classes and has picked from a list of Himeko’s scheduled classes for the inspection, and knowing her efficiency she picked her first class of the day, since she seemed to be busy and wanted this to be out of the way as fast as possible. That didn’t pose a problem for Himeko as nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

She bid the chairwoman goodbye and went straight to her first class. On the way there she passed by a handle of students getting inside their respective classrooms greeting her a good morning along the way.

She reached her first class and slid the door open, once inside the students started scrambling to their seats.

Everything seemed to be in order.

“Today, the chairwoman will observe our class and I expect everyone to be in their best behavior, am I clear?” Himeko received a ‘Yes ma’am’ from everyone all except one, but she was too focused on her lesson plan to notice that one student sleeping in the back.

* * *

In the middle of teaching her lesson, the door slid open and came in the chairwoman, Himeko stopped for a moment to let the students address the visitor and waited for the woman to give a response. The woman simply gave a nod signaling her to continue her lesson then sat down on the chair provided for visitors which was near the door.

Before beginning again, Himeko noticed one of her students asleep. That student was none other than Okogi Yuzu.

Out of all the available schedules the chairwoman could have chosen, it had to be her _first_ period, a class where Yuzu was always asleep in! And yes, she does acknowledge that she had a fault and forgot the one student that could potentially ruin this day. How could she have forgotten that minor detail?

Himeko always had first period with this class, every time she starts her lesson, she found that she's always asleep during her class. Maybe she had her reasons why she always seems tired, and honestly, she didn't want to find out. She didn't have the time to meddle with the lives of her students, she was just their homeroom teacher, wasn't that normally the school counselor's job?

So even though it's against school rules, she let Yuzu sleep through class. It's not like she's bothering anybody, right? It's what Himeko did like any other day.

But today wasn't like any other day though, and to be honest, she’s regretting giving her that privilege.

Himeko knew waking her up would be the best choice especially now that the chairwoman was actually in the room, she knew the chairwoman would eventually notice the sleeping girl.

The chairwoman was currently sitting on the complete opposite side of the room, may be there’s a chance she won’t notice her until the end of the period.

Himeko glanced at her to make sure she hasn’t yet and saw her furrowing her eyebrows at the sleeping Yuzu.

She already noticed her!

Himeko let out a gulp and stopped her discussion then slowly approached Yuzu's desk.

"…Okogi-san." Himeko started softly while placing a hand on her shoulder to shake her awake.

Yuzu was mumbling something inaudible in her sleep, showing no signs of waking up. Himeko looks up to find the chairwoman having a frown on her face. 

"Okogi-san." She repeated louder while shaking her again, harder this time.

"O....kay.... coming right… up...." Yuzu mumbled. Himeko’s heart was racing in her chest.

This was getting worse.

Himeko continued to shake her but to no avail she was still not waking up. The chairwoman might do something drastic. Not obeying school rules was one thing, but with someone as strict as her in charge, even something like sleeping during class won't be given with just a warning. Things would definitely not end well.

Himeko looked at the place the chairwoman was supposed to be sitting at and found she wasn't there. She suddenly felt a cold sweat form on the back of her neck. Where did she go?!

While still thinking about where she could have gone, Himeko suddenly heard a loud slam on the desk she's currently standing next to, effectively scaring the life out of her and the class, and finally waking Yuzu up from her slumber.

"Here's your Omu-rice!" Yuzu suddenly stood up and raised her hand like she’s holding an invisible tray.

The class was in complete and utter silence for a moment.

Yuzu looked around while slowly dropping her hand to her side, a little bit confused.

Why was everybody looking at her?

Oh, now she remembered, she was at school and decided to fall asleep since it was early. She forgot to set her alarm to wake her up before class but something woke her up in the middle of her dream.

And with the way she woke up, it was bound to catch everyone’s attention.

Yuzu noticed the scared faces of her classmates, what was going on? Did anything happen while she was asleep? She turned her head and noticed her teacher, she was pale as a ghost and looked like she was going to faint any time soon. Something _definitely_ happened while she was asleep.

In the corner of her eye, she finally noticed the lone person giving her a hard look.

Yuzu and the woman shared glances at each other. Emerald meeting Amethyst for the first time. Yuzu was still too confused to comprehend what was happening, still groggy from sleep. She looked at the woman glaring at her, like she did something very _wrong_.

But the only thought that got through to her head was the face of the woman.

The woman carried a face of elegance and maturity she's never seen in another person before.

The woman had long sleek raven hair that flowed down her back, pearl white skin that made Yuzu want to know how she made it look so flawless, and a well proportioned face.

 _‘She’s beautiful.’_ Even when the woman was glaring at her that was the only thing on her mind, and she wasn't even wearing make up! How unfair...

Noticing she was getting carried away she quickly shook her head shaking away the thought.

Now with her mind out of the gutter, this was the first time she ever saw this woman.

 _‘Who is this person?’_ She tried asking herself, but nothing comes to mind. She doesn’t recognize this woman at all, but with the way she looked, she might be someone of great importance, and why was she in this class? She didn't look like a student...

Right as the woman was about to say something, the school bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of the period.

Saved by the bell.

The woman closed her eyes to compose herself and nodded to the class, “Well, it seems that I have to get going,” She turned to face Himeko.

“And Momokino-sensei, thank you for letting me observe your class.” She gave Yuzu one last glance before whispering something in Himeko’s ear and then walked towards the door leaving the room. Himeko nodded in her direction and turned back to the students. The daunting atmosphere from earlier seemed to completely vanish the moment the chairwoman left.

“Okay class, the bell has already rung, make sure to remember to study this material because it will be part of the exam.” The students all replied with an affirmation.

“Rise. Bow. Class dismissed.”

Himeko noticed the chairwoman already left the classroom first. One by one the students who were probably going to the restroom were leaving as well.

Yuzu was also almost outside the classroom until Himeko called out to her.

“Excuse me, Okogi-san do you have a moment?” Yuzu stopped in her tracks wondering what her teacher wanted.

Yuzu approached Himeko near the teacher’s desk, she was busy tidying up her things.

“So, uhh… What is it that you needed Momokino-sensei?” Yuzu was really in a hurry now, they only had a few minutes of free time before next period starts, and she seriously needed to fix her make-up. It was ruined due to her sleeping on her desk.

By the time Himeko finished fixing her things, the two were the only ones left in the classroom.

“You’ve fallen asleep during class yet again, Okogi-san.” Himeko gave her a serious look.

Himeko scrunched her thick eyebrows and sighed, “Now normally I wouldn’t mind you sleeping during my lectures, but you’ve been doing it every day now, and even the chairwoman saw- “

“Wait, what? The Chairwoman was here?” Yuzu cut her off. The chairwoman was here? Then that means, the woman earlier…

Himeko nodded, “Yes, the woman you saw earlier was the chairwoman.” Yuzu stood there frozen in shock. She had a feeling that woman looked important, but she didn’t know she was _that_ important!

“That aside, could you tell me the reason you’re always asleep during first period? And even if you’re not asleep in my class, you’re always tardy, it’s either that or the other. Let’s also not forget your uniform!” Himeko almost fumed. Now that she took a good look at Yuzu, the only thing she’s wearing that’s not against the dress code was her skirt, and even that’s shorter than the approved length.

Himeko sighed, she just realized she’s dealing with a delinquent here.

Himeko rubbed her temple, “Tell me, are there any problems that the school should know about? Because if there aren’t, then we can’t tolerate any more of this kind of behavior any longer.”

Himeko looked at Yuzu straight in the eye, “Are there?”

Yuzu was in a predicament, she didn’t want the school to be involved with any of her problems. But she didn’t want to get expelled, either. Sure, she slept a lot during day, and sometimes went to school late, and maybe failed a few of her exams…. Okay every exam she ever took. It’s not like she did anything illegal. Doesn’t mean the school should watch her every move. It’s not her fault the school is so freaking strict!

So, all Yuzu did was shake her head no.

Himeko nodded, “Okay then, that settles it. I’ll set you up with an appointment with the school counselor after school, I want you to go straight there once school ends, and settle all your problems with them.”

Yuzu looked up, “After school?! I can’t! I need to—“

Himeko cut her off, “You do know what’s at stake here, don’t you? You should know that this does not only concern you, but also the entire school.”

A frown appeared on her face, “Your behavior is like a mockery to this school, it’s either you fix your behavior or else we will do something drastic.”

Himeko walked near the sliding doors to prepare to leave for her next class.

“If you know what’s good for you, you will go to the counselor’s office whether you like it or not.” She slides the door open.

“Thank you for your time Okogi-san.” And with that, she was gone.

Yuzu stood there in shock. What now? Should she go or not? They’ll find out if she didn’t though. And she won’t like the consequences either! Right when she’s a senior, too! 

She already knew the risks she would take just for her to accomplish her high school dream, but this was getting too far.

Just as soon as she started collecting her thoughts, she soon noticed her classmates piling into the classroom preparing for their next class.

_‘Wait, the break’s over already?! I haven’t even fixed my make-up yet!’_

Yuzu sighed and started walking back towards her seat.

Forget about re-applying her make-up, she knew she had bigger things to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was obviously Mei, what is up with me and hiding people's identities until the end of the chapter? I don't know, I'm just weird like that.
> 
> If you guys didn’t know, the first day of school in Japan starts in April, a little bit later in the spring. Then they get a summer break somewhere in July up until the end of August, I believe. Just count 40 days from July to August then you’re good to go.
> 
> Thank you for reading and sorry for the switching POVs, I’m an amateur, please forgive me... Reviews and comments are appreciated! Until the next update!


	3. School Counselor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuzu finally decides to go to the school counselor’s office but finds more problems.

Yuzu was currently standing in front of a door that read ‘School Counselor’ on the label. It was after school and she knew this was a huge waste of time just walking to this very spot. She had other things to do than have a ‘talk’, but she also knew that the school would have word that she didn’t turn up to her appointment if she didn’t go like she was supposed to, then she’d get another stern lecturing from Momokino-sensei and she didn’t want that.

Yuzu let out a sigh, she didn’t have a choice in this, did she? Might as well go all the way, her already being here and all.

Here she goes.

She gently knocked on the wooden door and waited for a response. She heard a quiet ‘Come in’ and opened the door completely, letting herself inside.

What waited her on the other side was something she didn’t expect. She expected someone old and ugly, with wrinkles covering their face, big thick glasses for their bad eyesight due to age, and white hair complete with a really old hairstlye. The person sitting on the counselor’s chair was far from that.

If she was given one word to describe the lady behind the desk it would have been ‘gorgeous’. The woman looked like a model.

She was currently reading over some papers scattered around her desk. Her hand held a specific one covering her face a bit. Noticing someone else was inside the room, she cleared her throat and turned to face Yuzu.

“You may take a seat.” Yuzu walked to the nearest chair available and sat down.

“Good afternoon, I assume you are Okogi Yuzu?” The older woman asked, she didn’t need to of course, it says here in the information sheet plus there was a picture attached to it, but she had to say something.

“Ah, yes that’s me.” Yuzu tried acting friendly but the atmosphere in the room was menacing enough. She scratched the back of her head.

“Right.” The woman coughed in her hand.

“If you didn’t know, my name is Taniguchi Harumi, the counselor of this school.” She straightened her back.

She looked at the report on top of her desk and began speaking.

“Formalities aside, I was informed you have been sleeping during class hours earlier today, thus your visit to the counselor’s office,” She pointed her finger on the paper, “Normally, sleeping during class hours doesn’t warrant a trip to the office and are given only a warning, but it says here in this paper that you have a number of offenses that are yet to be resolved.” After that Harumi gave Yuzu a stern look.

Yuzu silently gulped.

“Worry not, your teacher who gave you this appointment instructed me to only talk about what happened today, since earlier the school chairwoman had an observation with your class and like stated you were asleep during the duration of it.” Harumi stated.

Harumi rested her chin on her hand, “Can you tell me what made you sleep in class.” It wasn’t even a question. She fully expected her to answer.

Yuzu wasn’t sure if she wanted to be honest. She had a part time job yesterday, and that made her miss sleep. But hiding the truth wouldn’t hurt anyone, right?

“Uhh, I wasn’t able to sleep last night.” Yuzu answered. Harumi nodded her head.

“And why weren’t you able to sleep?” Yuzu gulped, well so far so good…

“Uhh, I was up late studying….” Oh no, she was losing her composure. Harumi raised one her eyebrows.

“Is that really the truth? May I add the fact that you fall asleep almost every day, and it says here that almost all of your quizzes have failing marks.” She pointed a manicured finger on the piece of paper.

“I suggest you tell the truth now or else the school might do something about it.” Yuzu let out a big sigh. She really couldn’t get away with it, can she?

“I… was working at my part time job late last night, and that made me lose sleep.” Yuzu spilled it out. Harumi sighed.

"You have a part time job? How did you manage to slip past the school not finding out about that minor detail?" Harumi massaged her temple.

"Did you not know that it's against the rules to even have a part time job?" Harumi pressed.

“I actually do.” Yuzu answered.

“Then why go through with it?” Harumi pressed on, not understanding why.

Okogi Yuzu went to Aihara Academy, one of the most prestigious academies in Tokyo, why would she need a part time job in the first place? Getting into the school would guarantee you a good job in the future.

Harumi just realized that the paper on the student only had her basic information printed on it, and not much of her background was put in. She’ll have to remember looking into this particular student a little bit later. In the meantime, Harumi needed to know.

“Are you going to answer?”

Yuzu sat there silent. She knew that what she was doing was against school rules, but what could she do? She had her reasons why she needed to work. At home she couldn’t anything there being watched her every move, now even the school is on to her, then again, the school was always trying to but into her life ever since she enrolled.

Harumi let out a big sigh. "I hoped you’d answer." Harumi had her hand out trying to reach for the school phone, things like this should be directly addressed to the administration, being a violation and all.

Yuzu stopped her hand from reaching the phone. Her face was in tears.

“Please, can you keep it a secret from the school? I’m begging you, I don’t know what to do anymore if I get kicked out!” Yuzu pleaded, desperation in her voice.

"Listen kid, I'm only doing my job. I have your grades right here on my desk and from what I’m seeing here, one more set of failing marks and you could get expelled." Harumi finished then looked at Yuzu’s direction.

She had her head low. She looked like she has just given up on all hope. Harumi recognized that look, she had that same look when she was her age, not being allowed to do what you want. She was clearly not doing anything wrong, but the school clearly has you where they want you to be. Being reduced to a mere doll, just sitting there acting all pretty following their orders. Telling you what you can and can't do. One wrong move and you get disposed.

Harumi knew what that felt very well. And how Yuzu was acting right now actually managed to pull at her heartstrings.

What happened to Harumi to let her make these kinds of decisions? Wasn’t her purpose of being counselor to right people’s wrongs? But then again… being a counselor also meant helping people and their problems.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Momokino told her to only discipline the student, but it seemed that what this girl needed was help and not punishment and that solidified her resolve.

Yuzu sniffed, “I really thought you would be different…” Yuzu sighed and closed her eyes.

Now Harumi only wanted to help the poor girl but had no clue what to do. If she doesn’t report this girl’s misdeeds to the school it goes against all the duties as a member of this academy.

But what _can_ she do?

Harumi continued to stare at the student’s crying face but something different caught her eye. There was a paper pinned on the cork board right next to the door and she suddenly remembered pinning it there earlier that morning.

Harumi was determined. She was different from those people who only knew how to make people suffer.

Harumi knew what to do.

"Kid, here's what I'm thinking. The school offers a tutoring program to students not meeting their grade minimum. If you promise to give this tutoring program a shot, I won't tell the school about your secret, okay?" Harumi looks at Yuzu straight in the eye. But this time more on genuine concern.

This Yuzu girl somehow reminded her of herself in her younger days and she couldn't just let her rot away like she did. Taking away their freedom, she wouldn’t let herself let that happen, stranger or not.

Harumi could feel the sudden change of atmosphere around the room. She looked at Yuzu, she looked like a ray of sunshine, the exact opposite of what she was expressing just a few moments ago.

“Really? You promise?” Yuzu asked making sure what she was hearing was real.

Harumi nodded her head.

“Promise.”

Next thing she knew Harumi was being engulfed with a big hug.

“Thank you so much!” Yuzu was really grateful. Harumi gave her an awkward pat on the back.

“Just remember your end of the deal, accept the tutoring program then we’ll talk about this little secret of yours, got that?” Yuzu nodded her head.

“You still have about a month left until the next examination period to get your grades up so you need to manage your time and study.” Harumi said.

“I will need to report today’s session to your teacher, I’ll be needing to see you again, just a pay a visit the next free time you have but as of now you’re free to go.”

Yuzu nodded and then stood up. She then gave a big bow signifying her gratefulness.

“Thank you very much, I won’t let your kindness go to waste!” Harumi nodded and sent her off. Yuzu went out the door with a wave with her hand looking relieved.

As the footsteps began to fade Harumi let out a big sigh and slouched in her seat, tired from the way she acted her ‘Serious school counselor façade’, but that’s beside the point.

Something seems off. She needed to look into Yuzu a bit more. Like how did a girl like her get into this school in the first place? Sleepless nights due to part time jobs, thus failing grades. If you were someone attending this school, you wouldn’t need to do part time.

But the thing that made Harumi concerned was the look on her face when she realized that she was possibly going to be expelled, she looked like she lost all hope, like there was nowhere else to go, nobody to lean on.

Harumi shook her head. She needed more information before she could start making any assumptions. She just met the girl, for god's sake. That means she needed to go take a trip to the student records if she wanted to find out more, but she should worry about that later.

Right now, she really hoped what she did was the right thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short trivia. Did you know that once you graduate Middle school in Japan, education is no longer a right for the student? Like, if you get expelled during Junior High/Middle school, you could still apply in a different school and the law says that they can’t turn the student down even how severe the reason for their expulsion is. But once in high school, applying for a different school once expelled is hard. Trying my best to be very accurate in Japanese schooling for this story. I had to do a lot of research. Anyways, that’s the reason why Yuzu was desperate and scared.
> 
> Soooo, did you guys expect Harumin to be the school counselor?? Yes? No? I’ve always thought that she was a perceptive person and she’s got a degree in Psychology in the story. Well, she’ll play a big part in the story, it’ll depend on how well I write her for the next chapters though, but for now she’s a minor character. So, I hope I get to that point someday.
> 
> I’m sorry if the point of view keeps changing in between paragraphs, I really can’t focus on one person’s thoughts and feelings when in third person. Plus, they nod too much in my opinion, and I’m the writer!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Until the next time!


	4. Time Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Himeko was finished for the day and remembers being called to the chairwoman's office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! There's good news I want to share. I just suddenly had the urge to play my Persona games (3, 4 and 5 if you were wondering) and while playing I was hit by creative inspiration. It gave me a few more ideas to add to the story and I just can't wait to start writing them!
> 
> Somebody asked how old Mei was in the story and I completely forgot to add that detail.
> 
> She's around 25 years old, and so are the other characters except for Yuzu. She's 17.
> 
> On that note, I kinda changed how Mei and Himeko met, so yeah...
> 
> Hope you enjoy reading!

It was the end of the day, the familiar tune of the Westminster chime rang from the school bell signaling that all students should leave the school premises and head straight home.

Students from clubs and late classes began to pack their stuff and prepare to leave, eager to rest their tired and worn out bodies at home.

A certain thick browed teacher was doing her final rounds checking if there were any lingering students hanging around. Finally reaching her last checkpoint, she turned around towards the direction of the faculty office.

When she arrived, Himeko quickly went to her designated desk and fixed her things and prepared her lesson plans for the next day. She suddenly remembered the events that transpired earlier in the morning and let out a sigh.

 _‘Taniguchi better do something about that girl, or else hell will break lose.’_ She finally fixed her things and prepared to leave heading straight to the chairwoman’s office.

Now normally she would be just as eager as the other students to head back home, but she remembered Mei whisper to her earlier after the first class, asking her to come to her office after school. She had a hunch on what Mei wanted to discuss with her.

She reached the door to the chairwoman’s office, breathing in deeply trying to compose herself for what’s to come.

Letting out the deep breath she’s been holding, she finally knocks on the door and silently waits for a response.

She hears a bit of shuffling papers before hearing a voice followed by more shuffling.

“You may come in.” Himeko opens the door and is greeted with the sight of the chairwoman and a desk full of stacked papers on both sides.

She closes the door behind her and proceeds to sit in the chair next to the desk. So far so good…

She waits for Mei to finish signing the last paper in her hands, but after piling it with the rest of the stack, she gets more from the side and continues signing.

Himeko is beginning to think that Mei forgot that she had company and decided that she should be the one to initiate, because just sitting here in complete silence is making her nervous.

“You called for me Aihara-sensei?” Himeko finally breaks the silence. Mei completely stops her work and turns to face her employee, finally acknowledging her presence.

“Yes, I apologize for calling you in when you should be heading home now.” Mei then resumes signing her paperwork.

“We both know that what happened earlier today was not how a student in this Academy should act.” Mei continued.

“I hope the problem has been dealt with and should not happen again.” She shuffled the papers in her hands and neatly put them on top of the pile.

Himeko nodded frantically, Mei sending her a look, then tried to compose herself again. She cleared her throat.

“I have sent the student to the counselor’s office and instructed the counselor to manage her behavior.” Himeko showed a confident look.

“This will not happen again, I assure you.” She finished.

“I sure hope not but I trust your words.” Mei finished then continued to put the signed papers on the other side of the desk, the height of the remaining stack not decreasing even with how many she signed already.

“Now that it is settled you are free to leave.” Mei said not bothering to look at Himeko’s direction, too busy in her work.

That went... smoother than expected. Mei probably had too much in her hands and didn't have the time to spare to add another one to it. 

Himeko was prepared to stand up and leave but something was bugging her. Mei hasn’t shown any signs of stopping, much less preparing to head home.

Himeko glanced at Mei and sighed.

_'I can clearly see the bags under her eyes... Is she planning to overwork herself again?'_

She knew how it was expected of her and it's doing good for the school, but Himeko can't help but be worried. All the restless nights and overtime has taken a toll on her health and sooner or later she herself might just collapse. Mei has always been like this ever since she first met her, and that was back during high school.

It's been what, ten years now? Himeko first met Mei in their first year of high school in this very Academy, and has been her best friend ever since. Or maybe her only friend, nobody else had the courage to start a conversation with her, except for her of course.

They've been inseparable ever since, or she was just too clingy for her own good. She particularly remembers Mei scolding her for being just that.

The only time when they weren't together was when they went to get their masters degree. They both went to Tokyo University together, but after graduating, Mei wanted to pursue higher education in a more distinguished school and went abroad to study, leaving Himeko back in Japan.

It's been four years since the last time Himeko saw Mei. But right after Himeko was nearing her first year of teaching in Aihara Academy, the chairman collapsed, and that gave Mei a reason to fly back. Seeing her grandfather in the hospital bed should've given her the signal and take a rest once she came home. But that's obviously not what happened.

The first thing she did once her plane landed back to Japan was to take the responsibility her grandfather had left her and became the temporary chairwoman of the school.

Ever since then, she’s been working hard twice as much as she needed to.

And that was only a few months ago.

“How about you, Mei? Aren’t you going home yet?” Himeko asked completely ignoring the fact that she called her boss by her first name.

Upon hearing the sound of her name being called Mei stopped in the middle of signing, but simply shrugged the question off.

“Nonsense, I have too much work that needs to be finished.” Mei continued her work.

Himeko decided that she can’t handle Mei neglecting her health and should say something about it.

“Mei, this is becoming unhealthy, you can’t keep denying your body’s needs. If you keep this up, sooner or later what happened to the previous chairman will happen to you, too.” Himeko admitted.

“You should take a break and forget about the paperwork for a while.” She worriedly continued.

Mei stops and softly slams her fist into the wood of the desk making some of the papers drop on to the carpeted floor. The action surprising Himeko a bit.

“And what do you suppose I do? Waste my time doing worthless things than finish my work?” All the stress might’ve made her a bit agitated.

Mei stands up, “If you haven’t noticed, I’ve got too much in my hands and have no time rest.” She gestures to the stack of papers trying to prove her point.

“If you have nothing else good to say to me then you should—“

Mei almost finishes her statement until she suddenly falls over, Himeko quick on her feet managed to catch her in time before she completely fell to the floor.

Himeko helped Mei up onto her chair before letting out her pent-up worry.

“This is what I’ve been telling you! Now you know what’s at risk when you actually let yourself work too much!” Himeko softly scolded Mei.

Mei was still denying it but ultimately accepting that Himeko was right.

“Alright… I apologize…” Mei softly said but Himeko just shook her head.

“I’m not the one you should apologize to, apologize to yourself, you knew your limits and still overworked yourself and I really think you should take a break for the time being.” Assuring that Mei won’t be fainting anytime soon, Himeko turned around and bent down to pick up the stray papers on the floor, caused by Mei’s sudden outburst from earlier.

“I understand… But who will take care of my work? And what am I supposed to do with my time?” Mei asked. Himeko herself knew how restless Mei gets when she knew she should use her time for better use other than resting, but nothing comes to mind.

Himeko finally picks up the last piece of paper and recognizes what was printed on it and was instantly overjoyed.

She immediately shoves the paper in front altogether making a satisfied grin littering her face. Mei was confused at first not knowing what to say about the paper presented to her.

It was a flyer for the school’s current program, a tutoring program for students with deficiencies. But what did that have anything to do with her? Other than of course, sign the approval letter.

“Himeko, what am I supposed to be looking at?” Mei really had no clue.

“Ah! My apologies, I got ahead of myself and thought we were on the same track.” Himeko just let out a nervous laugh but Mei seemed to ignore it and turned her head back towards the paper.

Himeko cleared her throat again, “You were worried with how you’ll spend your time while you rest, right? This is the answer!” Himeko excitedly waved the flyer around.

She remembered one of the administrators from the program telling her that they were currently short staffed and asked her if anybody was willing to volunteer for them. This was the perfect opportunity for Mei.

Knowing Mei, she would want to use her time for the benefit of the school, and what else than help them out? It was just a side job, but even the small actions make a big difference.

She’ll just need to assist one student in their studies and with how highly students in Aihara Academy value their education, it would be a piece of cake for Mei and she won’t have to do much.

This is much better than letting her do all the chairwoman’s work, her current workload was too much. Board meetings, class observations, managing her employees, paperwork and a ton more. Himeko wondered if Mei even had a life outside of school.

“Why not apply as a tutor here?” Himeko gestured at the paper, “It’ll be a good way to spend your time while you rest, and its not stressful work at all! Plus, it'll help to get your mind out of work.” Himeko tried to persuade Mei into taking her advice.

Himeko let Mei take the paper and make up her mind about the idea.

“I understand where you’re coming from, but who do you suppose will take care of my workload?” Mei asked. She’d hate to come back and have more paperwork to do when she could’ve finished them instead of resting.

Himeko grinned and pointed at herself.

“Have you forgotten? I’m the school’s _vice_ chairperson, and it’s my duty to finish the chairwoman’s work in case she is unfit to do so.” Himeko said coincidentally making Mei let out a tired sigh.

“It’s for your own good, Mei.” Himeko told her with a serious tone this time.

Mei huffed, “Being vice chairperson doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do.” She finished while closing her eyes and rubbing her temple.

Himeko put her hand on top of Mei’s on the table, her face showing genuine concern for her friend.

“Mei, I’m not telling you as your employee, or as vice chairperson but as your friend. Please, at least tell me you’ll think about this before making your decision.” Himeko said with a shaky voice. She was sincerely worried for Mei. Who knows what else might happen to Mei if she doesn’t stop to breathe for once? Next thing she knew, she’d be signing release papers in a hospital.

Himeko hoped it doesn’t come to that.

In the corner of her eye, she notices the yellow ball of light beginning to hide itself away into the tall buildings and the horizon outside the window, just behind Mei’s back creating a beautiful yellow and blue tinted sky, some of the rays of light filtering through the glass.

Himeko noticed it was getting darker in the room than when she first entered.

The sun is setting.

Himeko was sure Mei had a long day today and should really be heading home now.

“Come on now, we should head home.” Himeko beckoned and carefully put Mei’s arm around her shoulders to help her up. She took Mei’s belongings together with her own and walked towards the exit. Himeko calls for her chauffeur to pick them up at the entrance.

Seeing Mei struggling to walk with her own two feet, she assisted her along the way. Mei let out a defeated sigh.

By the time they reach the entrance of the school, Mei tells her that she was fine now and could walk on her own and Himeko reluctantly lets go of her hold on her.

They continued to walk but Mei seemed to be in deep thought really thinking Himeko’s advice through.

A limousine was waiting at the gates and Himeko motions Mei to come with her, but Mei turns down Himeko’s offer of taking her home. Before they parted ways, Mei tells her something only she could hear.

Himeko almost misses Mei’s whisper to her but caught it in time to actually understand what she said.

“Alright, I’ll think about it…” All the worry building inside of Himeko suddenly vanished just from hearing those words. Himeko smiled and bid Mei a good night. She went inside the vehicle with the chauffeur holding the door out for her and rolled down the window to her door to check on Mei.

She waited until Mei turned around the corner, finally disappearing from her view and motioned the driver to start driving.

She doesn’t know what Mei’s finally decision would be, but just knowing that Mei would actually think about her advice filled her with relief.

It’s a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you were wondering if a chairperson of a school is allowed to teach, the answer is yes. They are educators before they get elected as chairperson, I know this, because back when I was in college, some of my subjects were handled by the department chairwoman, and we became really good friends with her, plus she was very young. AND she handled one of the thesis classes when I graduated. That's how heavy her workload is.
> 
> In Mei's case on the other hand, she has only been assigned 'temporary' chairwoman, to cover for her sick grandfather. Yup, another plot background originating from the manga. Sorry, I'm very unoriginal... Anyways, Mei doesn't really have experience in teaching, since she just graduated from her masters... Probably.
> 
> Almost forgot! At this point of time, the students are wearing their summer clothes. They change into them once it's June 1st and change back to winter clothes on October. I have no idea why the manga or anime had them wear it on the first day of school, but it doesn't affect this so, no worries.
> 
> Aaaand, this is where I am completely out of my already finished chapters. The next chapters might take a while since I'll be writing them from scratch, but I hope you stick to this story till then. If I actually get to finish them on time...
> 
> I apologize if the plot is moving kinda slow, I just want to build the groundwork before we get to the drama and romance.
> 
> Anyways, see you next time!


	5. New Tutor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Yuzu to find a tutor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I just want to say that this chapter was actually really hard to write. I didn't know how to go about it and had to brainstorm ideas just to start writing. I had to write a whole chapter and erase it right after because I wasn't happy with how it turned out. But after a while I did manage to finish, I just hope it doesn't suck or is too boring, I'm sorry in advance!
> 
> I swear these chapters are getting longer and longer, this chapter's over 3700 words.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy reading!...Please?

It’s been a few days since Yuzu first went to the counselor’s office. The day after her visit, her classes with Momokino-sensei went back to normal, minus the part where she falls asleep during class.

Momokino’s been keeping an eye out for her ever since her little encounter with the school chairwoman and tried her best to not fall asleep during lectures, not in her class at least. She doesn’t have the patience to go through another of her harsh scoldings.

It was currently the middle of the week, a few more days before the official start of July. The temperature began to rise as days passed, soon beginning to become too warm to even have the energy to go outside. But the heat wasn't the only thing that came with the weather, the air became very humid during the afternoon making it hotter than it should be. And with high humidity only meant one thing, the rainy season was coming. Yuzu _really_ can’t wait for summer vacation.

But she still had about a month left before the first wave of exams kicked in, and knew she had to be ready for them. That’s why right after class was dismissed, she immediately ran straight back to the counselor’s office to learn more about the tutoring program and hoped it'll only take a few minutes, she did still had part time to do afterwards.

Guess she’ll just have to go and apologize to her boss later at work, _again_.

Currently, Yuzu and the school counselor were discussing about how she could apply for the tutoring program. She gave her a few sheets of paper consisting of an application form, some sort of survey checklist, like what kind of subjects she’s week to and some letter from her counselor.

Yuzu didn’t know what the letter said but thought that maybe it was a requirement from the program.

"Just to be clear, this is free, right?" Yuzu hesitantly asked. If it turns out that she had to pay for this service, she’ll be screwed. She didn't know if she could shell out any cash.

Harumi nodded in affirmation, "Yes, this is a free service provided by the school, any student can apply for this." She finished which made Yuzu relieved.

Harumi then asked her to fill the papers in advance so she won’t waste time filling them up before actually submitting it and gave her a spare pencil to use.

She first filled up the application form with the correct information, then proceeded to fill in the checklist. Yuzu was hesitating at first whether she’d mark every box there was in the ‘weak subjects’ or not, but did so anyway if she ever wanted to pass.

After finishing, Yuzu handed back the papers to let the counselor review if anything was missed. Harumi noticed the lack of marks in the ‘best subjects’ question but immediately understood the situation. She handed back the papers to Yuzu.

“Everything seems to be in order, all you have to do now is turn in these papers to the admin in charge of the applications. The registration starts tomorrow, drop by the faculty office after school tomorrow, they just might be there.” Yuzu took the papers and nodded as a reply.

“Oh, before I forget, I’ll need your contact information so whenever I need you to report any sessions, I’d be able to contact you.” She took her phone out and had Yuzu input her number in.

“Maybe you should add my contact information on your phone, too. In case you need help or something.” Harumi added, reaching her hand out asking for Yuzu’s phone.

Yuzu took her phone out from her bag and unlocked it, then hesitantly handed it over to the older woman.

Harumi was surprised to see a really broken looking phone from a highly fashionable girl. It had tons of cracks from the screen that’s only hidden behind a glass screen protector. It was definitely worse for wear. But what truly caught her attention was the photo on the screen, it was a picture of a much younger Yuzu with an older woman, probably her mother.

Harumi shook the thoughts away and quickly input her number in the phone’s contacts. She wasted too much time staring at the picture, the student might be wondering what’s taking her so long.

After making sure she got her number right, Harumi handed the phone back, the younger girl immediately tucked the phone inside her school bag, probably embarrassed at her for seeing the photo.

There, Harumi noticed the worn bear plush dangling on the chain connected to the bag.

Harumi payed it no mind sensing nothing wrong about it and gave her a small smile, “Message me if you need any help, I’m always available.” She mentions to Yuzu that she was free to leave and should head straight home then turned her own attention back to work.

Yuzu started fixing her belongings then tucked the papers into her school bag and was almost ready to leave until she suddenly remembered the very reason why she was going through with this.

She turned back around to face the school counselor.

“Taniguchi-sensei, about my… you know…” Yuzu intentionally left her statement as vague as possible, worried somebody outside might overhear her. She just hoped the other woman understood.

And to her delight, she did. Harumi did a ‘quiet’ hand gesture, putting her pointer finger in front of her lips.

“Don’t worry, you won’t hear a peep from me.” Yuzu felt relief from hearing her teacher keep her end of the deal.

Somehow, the school counselor was a bit nicer than the first time they met. Yuzu smiled at the thought.

“But if I were you, I should be heading to my ‘you know what’ right about now, don’t want to be late, do we?” Yuzu checked the time and she was right.

Yuzu scrambled to open the door but bowed down before she left the room. The scene actually making Harumi laugh a bit.

After the young girl left, she composed herself before looking back at the papers on her desk.

Okay, back to work.

* * *

Yuzu was making her way towards the faculty room with a purpose.

It was the next day and as soon as class was dismissed, Yuzu ran towards the faculty office with her application papers in hand, determined to get this over with. She could hear the sound of her homeroom teacher’s voice screaming at her to stop running in the halls but Yuzu simply ignored her words.

The faculty office was located on the ground most floor on the very far end of the hall, and she came from the top floor. She hurriedly went to the elevator but found a long queue of people standing in front of it and figured she’d be better off taking the stairs.

So off she went down the stairs, careful not to let the papers tucked in her arm fly away. She reached the ground floor and ran in the hallway, getting nearer to her destination.

But right after she turned the final corner, a long line of students entered her vision making her stop to a halt safely before she could bump into anybody. Yuzu decided to catch her breath from all the running and scanned the queue. There were about ten or more students lined up in front of the faculty room.

_‘What is this supposed to be?’_

Wondering what it was for, she slowly went nearer to the queue and decided to ask the last student in line.

She tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of her and she turned to face Yuzu, “What’s this line for?” Yuzu asked.

Recognizing Yuzu as the infamous delinquent, the girl cried in fear and started to cling to the girl standing next to her.

“Mii-chan, the delinquent is trying to talk to me…” Yuzu heard the girl whisper to her friend.

“Just don’t mind her Kana-chan and she might go away…” The other girl tried to comfort her friend and turned both of their backs to Yuzu completely ignoring her and her unanswered question.

Yuzu felt her eye twitch.

_‘I can hear what you’re saying, you know…’_

What did these people think of her, a deranged person? It was just a simple question!

Yuzu let out a sigh and decided to fall in line. She couldn’t get in the faculty office even if she wanted to, not with all these students blocking the entrance. This better be fast.

* * *

A few minutes pass and Yuzu finally reached the front of the line. She found out that the line was indeed for the tutoring program as stated at the notice beside the door.

“Finally, it’s my turn.” Yuzu said to herself. She wasted an hour for this.

Yuzu was just waiting for the old woman to finish entertaining the current student, which was the scared girl from earlier. She just couldn’t wait for this to be over with.

The girl finally leaves the room and it was now finally her turn. Yuzu reached out and handed over the stack of papers to the woman, letting her review the application forms if it was alright to proceed with the assignment of staff.

“It’s very rare for a student to ask to be tutored in every subject, the diligent student, are we?“ Yuzu heard sarcasm drip from the woman’s voice.

 _‘Great… First those girls treated me like a lunatic, now this old hag’s mocking me.’_ Yuzu was getting tired with how this school treats her.

“Let me check if there’s anyone who can manage.” Yuzu started tapping her foot impatiently.

She really needed to get to her part time right after this was dealt with, she wasted enough time as it is.

The lady on the desk checked her log for possible candidates of teachers but found none to give to the student.

“I’m sorry, but I think we’re out of possible teachers to tutor you.” She handed back the forms to Yuzu.

Yuzu stopped her tapping immediately and stood there frozen, silent from disbelief.

What does she mean when she said nobody’s available? Are they trying to tell her that they were able to give the students before her one, and suddenly right as it was her turn, they run out? She waited for so long today and all she gets is a halfhearted apology!? How could she have possibly known this was going to be in demand? Then again, it was nearing exams, so maybe it was that…

Yuzu stood there looking like an idiot, but she needed to say something.

“W-What do you mean you’re out of teachers? Can’t you just sign me up with another student’s tutor?” Yuzu desperately asked.

The representative shook her head, “Right from the start we’ve already had a shortage of staff, and you’re just the unlucky person, I’m sorry but we can’t give you another student’s tutor. It’s stated in the agreement only one student per teacher to help minimize their workload.” The woman finished, no sense of concern evident from the way she spoke.

Yuzu almost ripped the paper in her hands in half. Bullshit.

Yuzu was getting desperate, she needed this. If she can’t pass any of the upcoming exams she’ll get expelled for sure.

Just as soon as she started to cry, a familiar thick browed teacher entered the office.

Yuzu stopped her tears from flowing and wiped them away.

_‘Momokino-sensei? Am I seriously gonna ask help from her?’_

Yuzu really thought this through. If she becomes her tutor, she’ll be hearing her voice every day from now on, and that means her scoldings included. Yuzu shuddered at the thought.

_‘Well, beggars can’t be choosers…’_

Yuzu walked towards Momokino, the teacher unaware she was even there, and completely kneeled to the floor with her arms reached out, paper still in hand.

“Sensei! Please be my tutor!” The exclamation officially startling the life out of Momokino.

Himeko soon composed herself from the shock and held a smug look on her face.

“And why would I do that, Okogi Yuzu? Have you finally woken up and decide to stop with your foolish behavior?” Himeko then noticed the application form in the girl’s hands.

“Why don’t you try asking for one from the program representative over there?” She pointed at the woman Yuzu’s been talking to all afternoon.

Yuzu frantically shook her head, “You don’t get it! They’ve run out of staff, and you’re the only chance I have in getting a tutor!” Yuzu cried.

Himeko’s face changed from smugness to absolute panic, but not because of Yuzu’s predicament.

 _‘Maybe it was a good idea Mei-Mei didn’t join after all…’_ Himeko nervously laughed to herself while scratching her cheek.

Himeko couldn’t imagine what would happen if she let the chairwoman tutor this delinquent, she’d probably collapse faster if that was ever the case. Himeko sighed in relief.

Before she could take a step backwards, Yuzu suddenly started clinging onto her legs so she couldn’t move.

“Okogi Yuzu! What are you trying to do!?” Himeko shouted trying to pry the student’s arms around her.

“I’m not letting you leave until you accept the tutoring program with me!” Yuzu tried as hard to hold on to her feet, getting dragged in the process.

Everyone in the faculty room was now looking at the commotion happening in the corner. Yuzu and Himeko both felt their dignities being flushed down the drain with what they’re doing and Yuzu knew she’ll be adding this to her already long line of offenses.

But desperate times calls for desperate measures.

Yuzu continued pulling and Himeko continued struggling, both not stopping with what they were doing, and the people inside the office simply spectated, nobody having the courage to go near them, too scared they might get caught up with the mess.

"Let go of me!" Himeko yelled. 

This continued until the other one finally gave up, but both of them didn’t want to accept defeat from the other, still pulling at each other’s limbs. Yuzu would admit, for such a small person her teacher sure was feisty!

The sudden bang of the sliding door opening surprised everyone in the room, that included Yuzu and Himeko, that had them stop in their movement.

They both turned around and became shocked frozen from seeing the maker of the noise just behind the doorway.

* * *

Mei was heading to the faculty office, trying to find Himeko and her intention to tell her decision that she won’t be applying for the program. She just had too much work to do.

Upon reaching the faculty however, she heard a lot of noise coming from the inside.

“Okogi Yuzu! What are you trying to do!?” Mei heard a voice behind the door followed by shuffling noises. The voice sounded like Himeko. Mei was right in finding her here, but why was she shouting?

“I’m not letting you leave until you accept the tutoring program with me!” Another voice was heard. This time, she didn’t recognize the voice at all, but she was broken in her thought by more loud shuffling noises and grunting.

Mei let out an annoyed sigh from hearing the disturbance they were causing and announced her presence by slamming the door open as hard as she can without breaking it.

Everyone stood silent when they realized that she was the one who entered the room.

Mei scanned the room carefully, her eyes passing by every person’s scared faces until they landed on a very troublesome looking sight lying on the ground.

To some people, it might look like a humorous sight, but she felt otherwise.

Mei felt irritation bubble up inside her.

There Himeko was, on the wood tiled floor of the office struggling to get away from the single student clinging onto her legs. It seemed that the noises from earlier was due to them and their shenanigans for reasons unknown.

This behavior was a complete disgrace to the school. Why they were showing this kind of conduct in public, with witnesses no less was beyond her, but it won’t be for long.

Everybody else not involved in the incident sensed the chairwoman’s anger and quickly scrambled out of the room with their belongings, knowing quite well how this will turn out. Leaving the chairwoman, teacher and student alone inside.

Quickly realizing that they were the only three left, Himeko pried the student’s grip on her legs and stood up while dusting her clothes from the dirt.

“A-Aihara-sensei! What a pleasant surpri—“

“My office.” Mei interrupted then walked out the faculty room back to her office, expecting the two to follow her.

Himeko gave up her act like nothing’s wrong and glared at the blonde student who just finished getting up and papers still in hands.

Yuzu saw her looking at her direction and held out her hand with the application papers with a nervous but hopeful look, a last attempt at trying to change her mind.

Himeko snarled and snatched the papers away, but not in the form of acceptance but to finally make Yuzu stop with her antics then rushed out, leaving Yuzu in the office all alone.

Yuzu tried to look for her bag amidst the chaos and found it lying on the ground with everything spilled out, including her make-up.

Yuzu groaned.

Worst. day. _ever_.

* * *

The two arrived at the chairwoman’s office, with Himeko arriving first followed by a reluctant Yuzu. At first, the blonde just stood outside the door, nervous of what the chairwoman had to say, but was pulled in by an equally nervous Himeko inside.

The chairwoman was already sat down behind the desk, hands interlocked in front of her face, with a look of pure irritation directed at the both of them.

Yuzu gulped and held her head down, not meeting her gaze. 

Mei composed herself and turned her attention to Himeko.

“Momokino-sensei,” Himeko jumped at hearing her name being called.

“Please explain to me what _exactly_ the two of you,” Gesturing to them both with her hand, “Were doing in the faculty office?” Mei finished, the iciness in her voice still present.

Himeko nodded and kept a calm face when in reality her heart was doing cardio with how fast it was racing from just being asked the simple question.

Himeko cleared her throat, “Aihara-sensei, I assure that this student suddenly attacked me and—“

“Is that really what happened? Because from what I know only deranged people do that, and I am very sure we don’t have those kinds of students enrolled in this academy.” Mei cut her off.

“From what I’ve seen, that is _not_ how a teacher should act towards a student.”

“Tell me the truth or we’re just be wasting our time here.” Mei started rubbing her temple.

Himeko nodded again, clearly upset at herself that she was one of the reasons of Mei’s anger.

Himeko began again, “Okogi Yuzu… Has asked me to be her personal tutor, and I declined…” Then bowed her head down.

“Why did you decline, if you knew it was for her benefit?” Mei asked but Himeko remained silent.

Mei noticed the papers currently in Himeko’s hand and grew curious.

“What is that you’re holding?” Mei gestures to the papers. Himeko was about to speak when someone interrupted.

“Those are my application papers.” Both of them turned their heads towards the student, surprised at her suddenly speaking. Mei recognized her as the same student who was asleep during her visit. She focused her gaze on her.

Now that both of their attention was on her, Yuzu actually didn’t know what else to say.

But Yuzu was getting tired of being ignored, treating her like she wasn’t even there. Plus, she was kinda feeling guilty that her homeroom teacher was getting all the blame, when it was her fault they wound up in that sort of mess to begin with.

Even with the abrupt answer from the person she wasn’t talking to Mei still maintained her composure.

“And you must be Okogi Yuzu, correct?”

Yuzu nodded, trying hard not to run away now that the chairwoman’s attention was on her.

“Yeah, and I just wanted to say that what happened earlier was all my fault, I forced her to become my tutor and she didn’t want to and I should’ve stopped, so… don’t blame everything on Momokino-sensei!” Yuzu said with all her breath, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Where did she get all that confidence from?

“Okogi…” Himeko was genuinely surprised that her student stood up for her. And here she thought she hated her. Himeko wanted to thank the younger woman for trying but she knew she also had a fault in this.

“Momokino-sensei.” Mei called making Himeko jump once again.

“Y-yes?”

“Let me see those papers.” Mei motioned to hand them over to her. Himeko reluctantly handed them over wondering what Mei wanted to do with those application papers.

Once in her hands, Mei read what was written on each one, the application form itself was complete but she was disappointed at the survey answers. All were left checked in the ‘weak’ but none in the ‘strong’ points.

Mei initially wanted to decline the application, thinking it was a lost cause until she looked at the bottom most paper and noticed it was a recommendation letter, and decided to read what is said.

After reading the whole letter, she returned her gaze back at the student and saw her nervous state being the center of her attention but nonetheless still sported a determined look in her eye due to her earlier interruption.

Mei took a good look at the state of the younger woman, dyed hair, make-up and wearing of non-permitted accessories and clothing. This kind of behavior should not be tolerated and should be sent to counselor, but clearly _that_ didn’t work.

Mei contemplated if she should just expel this student here and now, but decided against it. Delinquent or not, it _is_ a bad reflection on the school’s part if they ever let a student get expelled without having done anything about their behavior while it’s not too late.

Mei nodded to herself, finally having come to a decision.

She will take full responsibility to discipline this girl if nobody else will, all the while doing the school some good. Himeko wanted her to take a break, didn’t she?

She took the pen from the edge of her desk and put her name on the tutor’s name box and signed it then handed the papers back to Himeko.

“Momokino-sensei, can you please submit this to the person in charge?” Himeko hesitantly took the papers albeit confused. Yuzu, being silent during all this was waiting in anticipation.

“May I ask why?” Himeko was growing anxious, her worst fears might be coming true.

Mei closed her eyes, a split second decision if she really wanted to go through with this, but her determination won out.

Making her _final_ decision, she opened her eyes.

“I will become her tutor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! We're finally going somewhere with this story haha! But it'll be a long way (or not) before they start to feel something for the other, I'm so excited to start!


	6. Thorn In My Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuzu was thinking how everything led up to this point, while also thinking about something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh, let me say that this was NOT how this chapter was supposed to be. I was writing the intro then suddenly I kept on writing until it eventually became a whole chapter without even writing what I was supposed to write. I contemplated on continuing the "supposed chapter" but it ended the way it is, so it'll wait until the next update as a whole different chapter.
> 
> Please read this with a grain of salt, it's not how it's supposed to be. So prepare your hearts...
> 
> With that said, hope you enjoy reading!

The past week had rather been a complicated one. Just thinking about it was giving Yuzu a headache.

First, she gets scolded by her homeroom teacher for sleeping in class during a _very_ important observation and gets sent to the counselor’s office.

Then said counselor found out about her part time job and failing grades, don’t forget to mention her numerous offenses, that almost gets her expelled, but decided not to if she applies to the school tutoring program.

Then applying for said program, while getting treated like dirt while waiting in line, only to run out of teachers when it was _finally_ her turn.

Thus, resulting her to beg her homeroom teacher, who was coincidentally in the room, but declined, forcing Yuzu to do a risky and desperate attempt to persuade her, only to be witnessed by the school chairwoman and finally getting called to her office.

But that’s not what caught her off guard.

She expected to get kicked out the moment she stepped in the office, but hearing the chairwoman declaring herself to be her new tutor was the biggest surprise yet. Yuzu was genuinely shocked.

She didn’t know what to feel, she didn’t know if she was happy that she did manage to get a tutor, or concerned that it would be the school _chairwoman_ out of all people.

If it was Momokino-sensei, she’d know for sure what to imagine during their sessions, a lot of scolding and yelling probably. But with the chairwoman however, she had no clue. She’d only seen the woman _twice_ and they never really had a proper conversation. Yuzu can’t help but be anxious about her new ‘tutor’.

Of the brief instance that she’d seen her, she didn’t know what else to describe her. She was like Japanese doll devoid of emotion. Like, just looking at her would just make you want to hide with how daunting she looked while she stared at you.

And how on earth can she manage to make her face stay perfectly still like that? Doesn’t her facial muscles get stiff?

Yuzu began frantically shaking her head.

Back to the topic.

The day after the whole ‘I will become her tutor’ declaration on Thursday the week before, Yuzu and her homeroom teacher went back to the faculty office to properly her application papers and told the lady in charge that somebody was willing to tutor her. Yuzu couldn’t forget the look on the woman’s face when she found out that _the_ chairwoman was the one who signed it.

Don’t forget about the threats Momokino-sensei told her if she as much as _tries_ to give the chairwoman a headache or else it’ll be the end of her. She shuddered at the memory. 

Afterwards, the chairwoman arranged for a short discussion with just the two of them in her office. Momokino-sensei almost fainted at the prospect of them being alone, but Yuzu didn’t really know why. What was so wrong about them being alone?

The chairwoman organized for them to start their official sessions on Monday the following week until Friday, and she should be prepared with her learning materials by then.

That wasn’t as much as a conversation as Yuzu expected, the chairwoman only saying a couple of things to her and her nodding along. By Monday, the life she was used to in the last two years ago will change.

And tomorrow happened to be Monday.

Yuzu sighed, her already busy schedule will become even busier now that she’ll have tutoring sessions to go to.

“…uzu-chan…”

How will she fit this in? And what about her part time job? She needed the money, she’s torn apart by two important things she needed right now.

“Yuzu-chan!” She was startled by a voice loudly calling her name, successfully interrupting her deep train of thought.

“Gah!” Yuzu almost dropped the plate she was holding and immediately turned to her side, realizing it was her co-worker calling for her. She forgot, she was currently at work.

Yuzu gave her a nervous smile trying to act like nothing was wrong.

“H-Hey senpai, did you need anything?” Yuzu casually asked the older worker. The woman shook her head in concern and told her what she needed to say.

“Are you alright, Yuzu-chan? I’ve been calling your name for a minute now and you never heard me.” She explained.

“Ah… Is that so? Maybe it’s because I was too busy washing the dishes… Yeah, that’s why! Haha…” Yuzu tried to act cool.

The woman gave out a small laugh, not believing Yuzu’s excuse and pointed at the sink in front of them, “Then you must really have a fascination with bubbles then since you’ve been staring at it for a while now.” Confused, Yuzu turned her head back to the sink and her face instantly morphed into horror.

Apparently, Yuzu forgot to turn the tap off while she was washing the plates and also forgot to fish the dish soap out the sink. But due to her spacing out, she didn’t notice the water mix with the soap and caused an overflow of bubbles _everywhere_.

Water dripped onto the floor she was standing on, making a puddle out of it. Yuzu’s face started blushing in embarrassment and quickly turned the tap off.

“I’m sorry! I’ll clean the mess right away!” Yuzu started scrambling to get a mop and a bucket from the supply room that she slipped on the pool of water and fell face first onto the tiled floor.

“Ouch…” Yuzu groaned while her co-worker went to her aid and helped her walk to the employee’s resting area. She settled Yuzu down on the provided bed and kneeled down to look for any injuries.

“Yuzu-chan, are you hurt anywhere?” The woman asked.

Yuzu checked if anything hurt that have been caused by her fall, but was relieved to find none.

She shook her head, “Not really, but my knees kinda aches though.” She started rubbing her knees, easing the pain away.

“I’m glad you’re not seriously hurt, but what’s been bothering you, you’ve been spacing out since you came into work.” The older woman asked, her face full of concern.

Yuzu thought back to the problem she’s currently facing, but not wanting to cause any more worry for her senpai she shook her head, “It’s not really important, I’ve just been thinking of the upcoming exams, that’s all.” It wasn’t technically a lie, but that wasn’t her main concern though.

The older woman let out a sigh of relief, buying her excuse, “Oh that’s good, I thought you were going through something terrible. I’m relieved that’s not the case.” She gave Yuzu a kind smile and went inside the storage room. She came out holding a mop and an ice pack.

“Here, this should stop the swelling,” She handed her the ice pack, “You should rest here for a while. I’ll take care of the mess in the kitchen.” She turned and left the room, leaving Yuzu alone with a sore face.

Yuzu wanted to say she wanted to help clean, since it was her mess, but as she started rising from her seat, her knees buckled from the pain resulting in her giving up and sitting down once again.

“What’s wrong with me today…?” She asked herself. Not just today, either. She’s been like this ever since the whole chairwoman incident. Her fear of her possible expulsion was getting to her, but that wasn’t the only thing on her mind.

"'Terrible' huh..." Not really but...

Her knees started to hurt again and remembered the ice pack in her hands. She pressed it firmly onto the burning ache causing pain, the cold material dulling it a bit, but not completely.

Though this pain doesn’t compare to the one she’s facing every day. Yuzu’s thoughts drifted to the source of all her worries.

Her... little situation at home.

Ever since… The accident, their life hasn’t been the same.

Yuzu sighed. She didn’t remember a single day where the only family member she had left wasn’t getting drunk every time she got home.

That’s why she opted to take late night shifts at work to avoid confrontation. Yuzu didn’t have the heart to see their broken state.

But what went so wrong?

They both lost somebody important. They were both missing a piece in their heart. They were both hurting on the inside.

She tried as hard as she can to be a good daughter. She accepted finding herself a job to earn the money they needed. She accepted in leaving her hometown to live here, in Tokyo. And she accepted being enrolled to Aihara Academy with the promise of a bright future, even if it meant leaving her old life behind.

But she was only human, and she also experienced pain and suffering and regret.

How come she gets to provide for the both of them, while the other wastes themselves away?

Why is it that even how hard she tried to make their family better, it still wasn’t good enough?

Why did one moment of tragedy suddenly change their lives for the worse?

And now… She was possibly getting an expulsion if she doesn’t keep her grades up. Getting a tutor, yeah that’s great and all but she’ll have to balance it with her work. She was _only_ human, she can’t do _everything_.

She was hurting both physically and emotionally.

Yuzu was getting so, _so_ tired... and lonely... She even thought of running away from her problems, leave it all behind, including her one last family left.

But Yuzu herself knew she didn’t have the heart to leave. She just wasn’t like that. She was too caring for her own good. She knew she was needed and accepted all the consequences with open arms.

She'll do her best and graduate, she'll get an amazing job and she’ll provide for the both of them, and be genuinely happy about it, because that’s what she does best at.

To be the optimistic girl she was, giving hope to people around her, like when she was younger. And in extension, giving hope to herself.

That maybe sooner or later, this little phase will eventually end, and they’ll be a happy family again, like they used to be.

Yuzu didn’t notice that she had closed her eyes while she was reminiscing the memories in her mind. She felt water droplets hit her hand, initially thinking that the ice pack melted into water, but realized it was tears that dropped, opening her eyes to see that her vision was blurry.

She was crying.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“Yuzu-chan, I heard you got hurt and I ju— Oh my, are you crying?” It was her boss standing in the doorway. Yuzu quickly wiped her tears but they just wouldn’t stop.

“I-I’m sorry, my knees really hurt after a-all.” She hiccuped. Yuzu prayed the older woman wouldn’t see through her lie and surprisingly, she believed her. Her boss lent her a handkerchief to help wipe away the tears.

“No, it’s alright, there’s nothing wrong with crying from a little pain. It’ll go away soon, believe me!” The older woman helped her feel better and soon Yuzu stopped her tears from falling, calming herself down.

“Want to take a break for a few days? It might get worse if you move it too much.” The woman suggested and actually got Yuzu thinking.

“About that… I actually need to go to school lessons after school from tomorrow onward, and I really don’t know if I could make it to work on time…” Yuzu explained.

Her apartment complex was located in Asagaya, which was just a short train ride away from Aihara Academy. But it takes about 40 minutes via train to get to Akihabara from there even before rush hour, adding the fact that she needed to stay in school for about three more hours now, making it a hassle, not to mention _tiring_ to go to work.

The older woman listened and nodded in understanding, “I perfectly understand, your education is important after all and you live so far from here, right? Take all the time you need, we’ll be fine for the time being. ” She gave her a kind smile.

“I completely forgot, I came here to tell you that since you got hurt, I’ll let you go home early. So, head home and rest up.” The lady told her in a hurried voice, probably busy with something else and bid Yuzu a good luck with her lessons.

Yuzu nodded her head and tested if her knees were still hurting. Knowing they didn’t anymore, she slowly stood up and walked to the locker room to change. Going inside, she noticed nobody was there.

Thinking back to what her boss told her, the pain will go away soon… And… there’s nothing wrong with crying from it… Those words helped soothe a part of her soul. Reassuring her that it was okay to feel like this, because someday it will all vanish and they’ll heal with a little time and patience.

Yuzu was determined. She won’t let this adversary get in the way with her aspirations.

She’ll get through this—No. _They’ll_ get through this. They _will_ be happy again.

She held on to that hope like her life depended on it.

Finished with changing, she bid goodbye to her co-workers, leaving the cafe with her heart feeling lighter than ever.

She stopped at a sidewalk and looked at the city lights of Akihabara. They were so bright, shining together with the stars in the heavens.

Even when it was night time, this was the start of its day. Even in the darkness, there was always a source of light.

She looked back at her's, the teddie bear attached to her bag and held it in her hands. Even with the years that it went through with the tearing and wearing of its form, it still held on. Yuzu found inspiration from that. They were the same, the same broken down and withered self. But she won't let that wither down her resolve. She _will_ hold on, like she promised to herself.

The bear was the embodiment of her happiness, from back when they were happy... She never let herself forget that, "Anthoniko, thank you for being here with me all this time..." Yuzu whispered to herself hugging the doll, feeling content.

She didn’t know what can happen tomorrow onward, but she hoped she was ready for it, like she’d always been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Don't worry, Yuzu will be back to her usual cheerful self, she just has a lot of things to think about.
> 
> Uhh with that said... Is the story okay? Especially with this chapter. I really feel insecure with my writing and I don't know if people actually like this, and don't know if I should continue or not. 
> 
> But like I promised, I will finish this story, but it just feels sad on my part that people don't leave as much comments as I expected, since I'm really looking forward with your thoughts so I could improve with both my writing and the story.
> 
> Anyways, since there's no real location where Yuzu or the others live, we only know they live in Tokyo. I made them live near Asagaya, which is a sub district in Tokyo. That's a long way from Akihabara, where the otaku culture hot spot is located at, full of maid cafes and anime stores, which is where Yuzu works her part time.


	7. Miscommunication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally the day Yuzu dreaded for, will she be able to survive the week?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I want to say thank you for all the people who commented! You guys really had me moved to finally finish this chapter. Some of the questions are already been thought of, and will be answered in a future chapter. You don't have to leave any more reviews, unless you want to Haha! 
> 
> Anyways, sorry I took so long, I had to go to my grandfather's funeral, and I wasn't at home at the time, and that hindered me into writing this chapter.
> 
> Also, this chapter was really hard to write, like the other one. I had to write a whole one and erase it, write again until I'm satisfied, well at least I got to finish, right?
> 
> Hope you enjoy reading!

The next day eventually arrived and Yuzu made sure she was prepared for it. Since she was sent home from work earlier than usual yesterday, she actually had a restful sleep for once and woke up like she could do _anything_.

“Good morning!” She stretched her arms while getting off the bed, “I’m feeling like I’m on top of the world! Hope it stays until later during lecture.” She was reminded of the fact that after school, she’ll be staying more for three hours as stated in the agreement with her new tutor.

Yuzu _still_ couldn’t get used to the fact that her tutor was the school chairwoman. Hopefully she’ll survive the hours they’re spend together, knowing how strict she would be.

She changed into her uniform, with her personal touch obviously, and went to fix her makeup. Afterwards, she checked herself in the mirror to make sure it was perfect. If she didn’t know any better, she looked even better than usual.

She shook her head in disagreement, “Heh, what am I talking about? I always look this good!” She giggled to herself then took her bag and went to fetch some breakfast.

Before leaving, she made sure she had all her studying materials for later and fished her apartment key. Locking the door on the way out. Not forgetting to greet her bear a good morning and dashed her way to school with a little hop to her step.

She was a little nervous for the after-school lecture, but that won’t stop her from her happy mood.

Nothing’s gonna ruin this day!

* * *

Except _this_ one.

School went by normally like any other day. But with all of her positivity from today’s morning actually had Yuzu be in a hyped-up mood all day.

Her classmates and schoolmates were surprised at seeing her walking near them on their way to school and even greeted them a good morning, which she _never_ really did. Apparently, it didn’t turn out well and had them running away from her.

Something even more surprising was Yuzu not even once falling asleep in any of their classes, even with how boring it turned out to be. That made them less wary of Yuzu, ultimately thinking that she was turning in a new leaf, but not enough for them to try and actually start a conversation with her.

Yuzu didn’t mind that one bit, as long as they weren’t treating her like a delinquent, it won’t really deter her optimism that much.

_Except this one._

After class was dismissed, Yuzu was already done packing her stuff and was on her way out the door, so she could go to the designated room used for their private lectures, until someone stopped her once again in her tracks.

“A word, Okogi-san?” The familiar shrill voice sent a chill run down her spine from just hearing it. Yuzu turned around and was faced with one Momokino-sensei.

“Sensei, is this gonna be quick? I wouldn’t want to be late for my session…” Not really a lie, but she can’t stand one more moment if this was another scolding, she’d had enough thank you very much.

Himeko cleared her throat, “Rest assured Okogi-san, I will just brief you more about that tutoring session of yours.” Yuzu nodded in reluctance.

“As per our agreement from the week prior, the chairwoman will only be known as your tutor as of today onward.” She narrowed her eyes at Yuzu striking a rush of nervousness in her veins.

“That means, while she will be busy lecturing you, _I_ will be taking over her duties as chairwoman, being the vice chairperson, after all.”

“But that doesn’t mean you won’t still give her a certain amount of respect even if she is now merely your tutor.” She crosses her arms, “She is still recognized as a very high authority in this school and I expect you to be in your best behavior while in her presence…” Momokino was straight out glaring at her now.

“… If you know what’s best for you.” If looks could kill, Yuzu would have been dead a long time ago.

“I trust that you remember our little agreement the other day?” Himeko looks to Yuzu’s direction, making her nod frantically.

“Good, then that’s all then. I bid you good luck with your lessons.” Her demeanor changed into a friendly one, but Yuzu knew deep inside she was hiding a beast within waiting to pounce at any kind of defiance she’d make.

Yuzu gulped at once at the thought but eventually relaxed herself once the older woman was out of her sight. Way to ruin the mood she built up all morning…

She began walking to their private lecture room to meet with her tutor, with every step she took leaving a trail of uneasiness behind.

This does it, all the excitement she had earlier had all gone down the drain, only leaving a quiver of nervousness in her wake. Her teacher was right though, she would be spending the rest of her time with the chairwoman, and she really doesn’t know what to expect.

Would the chairwoman actually try to help her or reprimand her for her behavior? She had no idea.

She was now standing in front of the door to their lecture room, well she assumes this was the right one. It was stated in the papers… Anyways, she stood outside trying to muster enough courage to _actually_ open the door.

 _‘Where did all my confidence go…’_ Yuzu didn’t know how, but she swore she could feel an eerie aura on the opposite side of the door or maybe it was just her heart drowning in fear from the anticipation.

Yuzu took a deep breath and let it out afterwards, clutching the door handle and preparing to swing her arm to open the door. 

The room was pretty small, but it was big enough to accommodate a large enough desk and two chairs. There was a large window at back where light was filtering in, showing an orange glow signaling it was already late in the afternoon. She felt a draft, feeling thankful that it has air condition like the other classrooms. Yuzu wouldn’t want to stay in a small room where heat would slowly consume her.

She visibly flinched upon entering the room at the sudden voice breaking the silence. The chairwoman was seated on a chair facing the door and in extension, her.

“You are late.” The chairwoman stated, but surprisingly she still displayed a calm façade. Yuzu immediately scrambled to get to her chair, almost tripping in the process, but managed to set her bag on the table then sat down all while looking at her teacher in the eye.

Yuzu silently gulped, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise from the intimidating aura surrounding the room. She remained quiet and waited for the older woman to initiate the conversation.

“Well? I’m expecting an answer why you arrived late.” The woman started, it wasn’t obvious but Yuzu really heard some sort of iciness in her tone.

The blonde looked everywhere _but_ her tutor, she really couldn’t handle the aura she was emanating and tried to tell her excuse.

“Momokino-sensei held me up in class, told me some things about today’s discussion… That’s why it took me so long…” She answered, hoping it was enough of an excuse for the other person’s ears. 

Yuzu turned again to look at the chairwoman’s face, the raven-haired woman’s eyes narrowing in thought.

She closed her eyes in acceptance, “Very well, I certainly hope this occurrence doesn’t happen again.” She nodded a few moments later making the unnerving atmosphere slightly dwindle, enough to at least make Yuzu breath in relief.

It was suffocating being the center of someone’s antagonism.

Yuzu cleared away her thoughts realizing that her teacher has already started talking.

"—As you already know, I am Aihara Mei, the school chairwoman. But as of now, I will be teaching you as your personal tutor.” She said while taking out reference books from her bag,

“You may—” Yuzu felt like she needed to introduce herself as well and cut in before she let the older woman finish what she was saying.

Yuzu stood up and let out the biggest smile with a wink and peace sign following after, “Hi! I’m Okogi Yuzu,” She started, trying to act friendly. “You can call me Yuzu! It’s nice to meet’cha!” She finished then let out her hand in greeting.

There was a moment of silence.

Yuzu could feel the awkward atmosphere returning from the way the chairwoman only stared at her hand while she held her pose waiting for her handshake to be returned. Yuzu didn’t know what else to do.

Finally, the silence was broken with a cough coming from the tutor.

“As I was saying, you may refer to me as Aihara-sensei, _Okogi-san_.” She finished. Yuzu slowly felt her sweat drop from the awkwardness and cautiously retracted her hand and sat back down dejectedly.

Yup. _Awkward_.

 _‘So much for being friendly…’_ Yuzu internally sighed, fearing that she’ll just make the situation worse if she just as much as breathed, especially with the chairwoman right in front of her.

“We best start and cover as much as possible, we only have about less than a month before the first rounds of exams start.” Aihara-sensei started taking out books and placed them on the desk.

“These reference books were lent to me by your homeroom teacher, we should be grateful that she already marked certain studying material that would come up in the tests.” She gestured at the books, looking at Yuzu’s direction.

“May I ask which subject you prefer to study first?” Mei asked. Yuzu actually had no idea were to start, considering the fact that she sucked at _everything_ , except for Fine Arts and Physical Ed, but those aren’t really things you should study for.

“Uh, I’m okay with anything, Aihara-sensei.” The blonde answered, letting her teacher pick for her. Mei nodded in understanding and turned to pick a book from the pile.

“Alright, shall we start with Social Studies then? I believe we should start with the lengthier topics to become much more efficient with our time.” Mei suggested.

Social Studies? Darn, that means Japanese History which is Yuzu’s worst subject. She hates memorizing names and dates and everything else, but she really doesn’t have a choice in this anyway. Sooner or later they _will_ go over this material eventually.

“I expect you to write notes for important events written.” The woman stated.

Yuzu simply nodded and fetched her own book and notepad then waited for the older woman to start their lesson. Mei turned to a page marked on the book as the start of the coverage of the exams.

“Alright, let’s start from the very beginning of Japanese History. Japan is known to be traced back from the time of the Jomon period and…” And so on.

Yuzu was dumbfounded. She was frozen on spot listening to the older woman continued on and recited everything from the beginning of history written on the book. This was it? Was she supposed to listen to this for _three_ whole hours?

 _‘What was the whole purpose of getting a tutor if all we’re gonna be doing is listen to someone talk for three hours?’_ This ultimately turned all Yuzu’s left-over enthusiasm into boredom.

Oh boy.

Yuzu tried to encourage herself. All she had to do was survive this woman’s boring lecture for three and hours, and do it for the next four days as well, then she’ll be home free for the weekend… Until Monday comes around again… But that doesn’t matter!

Survive the week, that’s her goal.

Yuzu turned and listened to her tutor babble more of something about how the Shōguns became much more powerful than the Emperors and so on, not really finding the lecture to be interesting. She took a quick peek on her phone to check the time.

Only ten minutes passed since they started.

Yuzu internally sighed and made herself a bit comfy. This was gonna be a long three hours.

* * *

The next two days continued on the same way and Yuzu was sure she was gonna go crazy any time soon.

It was now the middle of the week, two more days until she’s home free for the weekend. But this day didn’t go as smoothly as the others though. This was different, she really needed to study for tomorrow’s test and like always, Aihara-sensei’s lectures just weren’t working for her.

Desperate to get some _actual_ studying, Yuzu tried to use her phone to look up any easier ways to study for her test all while her tutor was discussing the same exact thing. But Yuzu’s sneakiness seemed to fail, ‘cause next thing she knew, the phone she was holding was taken away from her by no other than the stoic queen herself.

She immediately felt the tension rise in the air as the older woman started glaring at her.

“You will get this back once our session is over.” Mei said in a stern voice and placed the phone on her side of the desk, far from Yuzu’s reach.

Yuzu grumbled to herself and slouched on her seat in boredom and in silence but chose to ignore her teacher’s nonstop discussion. Yet again another day without learning anything.

Three hours passed and she finally got her precious phone back. The older woman quickly packed her things and left the room without bidding Yuzu a goodbye. Yuzu ignored the motion, since they weren’t exactly in good terms from what happened earlier.

She fixed her own belongings so she could catch the train in time. It was rush hour and she wouldn’t want to get into a sourer mood trying to fight for a spot to get inside.

Yuzu was now inside her room in her pajamas even in the hot summer night, trying as hard as she can to cram everything inside her brain as much as possible so she could pass tomorrow’s pre-examination test.

It seemed like the study tips she looked up from the internet were effective, but with how long she’s been up all night, exhaustion would soon take over.

Yuzu stretched and yawned, “Can I even make it ‘til tomorrow? I have what,” She looked at her desk side clock, it read 4 AM, “Ugh, I have two hours left until it’s time to ‘wake up’” She groaned.

Yuzu shook her head and gently slapped her face, waking herself up. She stood up and went to her bathroom to try and splash her face with water, this might have woken her up quite a bit.

She looked at her mirror and saw her tired face.

Even if exhaustion and fatigue were present with how pale she looked, she wouldn’t ignore the burning fire in her green eyes that showed her determination. This just proved that she could do anything if she set her mind on it, and that included studying all night long if she has to.

“Yosh! I’ll pass that test by myself without that boring woman’s help.” She encouraged herself and went back to her chair to study. This continued until light started filtering through her curtains, signaling that morning has come and she needed to prepare for school.

Yuzu let go of the pencil and stretched her fingers, tired from all the writing from last night, and turned to fix her things for the day.

She didn’t know why, but she felt like she was fully prepared, maybe not enough to get a perfect score, but enough to ensure that she actually passes. And she trusts that feeling.

She finished eating her breakfast, making sure she had everything with her and left her apartment with a bit of a hop to her step.

Nothing’s gonna ruin this day.

* * *

The day rushed by like a snap, Yuzu’s nervousness soon wavered and only a feeling of shaky triumph left. It was the end of the day, and she felt like she could do anything. Her hand was like on fire during their examination, going through question by question with expert precision.

Still though, just because she answered every question there was on the test, didn’t mean they were all correct. Like any other exam they still needed to wait for the results and that’s why there was still of feeling of doubt in Yuzu’s veins.

 _‘Okay Yuzu, the test’s over. All I need to do is to be patient and wish for the best.’_ She tried encouraging herself which seemed to work. She calmed herself down from her anxiety and took a deep breath. Patience is key to success.

Plus, there was another problem she needed to be patient for.

Aihara-sensei.

Yuzu sighed at thought of going for another three whole hours together with that tutor of hers, but like said before, she signed up for this therefore, she didn’t have a choice.

She was now once _again_ inside their small lecture room. But now she was tired as ever. Her adrenaline rush from earlier during her exams was beginning to wear off, and now it only left a sense of exhaustion and stress in Yuzu’s body.

Her tutor continued to drone on and on about a certain topic that she didn’t really have any idea anymore and slowly started to get drowsy from lack of sleep. If she wanted to be honest though, Aihara did have an alluring enough voice that made her slowly drift off even more. Soon, Yuzu started closing her eyes and finally, her self-control gave out letting sleep consume her.

This of course wasn’t gone unnoticed by her teacher, certainly not. Even as Mei was too busy discussing the importance of the 200 years of isolation in Japan, did she finally notice the sleeping student when she heard a pencil drop resonating in the quiet room.

Mei felt a nerve pop, this has gone quite long enough. She was already aware of the younger woman’s way of ‘trying’ to listen to her discussions and chose to ignore them, but now falling asleep right in front of her? Now that was just plain disrespectful and rude.

A sense of déjà vu overwhelmed her, reminding her of the day they first met during her observation. She never was able to say the things that should have been said that time because of a certain bell cutting her off. But now, there was no school bell and nothing else to stop her from saying what’s on her mind.

She closed the book she was holding and floated it above the table, right next to Yuzu’s head, and quickly slammed it on the hardwood, making a loud noise that effectively woke up the sleeping girl.

Yuzu jumped from the impact and stood up from her chair, trying to find the source of the loud noise. Her eyes focused on one angry Aihara Mei, and realized the situation she was in.

She tried to act like she wasn’t asleep just a few moments ago.

“Haha, that noise kinda startled me—”

“Have you no ounce of respect?” The older woman cut her off, “Here I am teaching you everything you need to know so you could get your grades up and all you do is fall asleep on me?” Mei scolded. “I am getting tired of your non participation during our lectures, you should be more grateful that I have taken the liberty to teach you at all.” She finished.

Yuzu knew she should feel grateful and ashamed at most, but for some reason anger boiled within her veins. _Teaching_? Was that really what she was doing?

Yuzu furrowed her eyebrows, preparing to retort back, “Yeah, well I wouldn’t fall asleep in the first place if you weren’t such a boring teacher!” She yelled back.

She heard another slam on the desk, seeing her teacher’s fists resting on the table. Yuzu turned to look the woman’s face and felt the room suddenly become ten degrees colder. The way she was narrowing her eyes at her, you could feel the iciness buried deep within, and that gave a chill down her spine, but she didn’t dare show her fear and glared back.

They continued glaring at each other until the raven-haired woman broke the tension with a scoff.

“Seems like our time is up, do not worry Okogi-san, I know when I am not needed, and that time is now. If you will excuse me, I bid you good luck with your pre-test exams.” She lightly stated.

Yuzu wanted to retort back that her exams finished three hours ago and it wasn’t because of her help, but by the time she opened her mouth, the taller woman already took her bag and lent books and went out the door, leaving Yuzu alone inside the lecture room.

As soon as the door slid closed, Yuzu let out an annoyed scream, both directed at the teacher, and at herself. Blaming it all on the sudden surge of anger that possessed her body earlier. She didn’t even giver her a chance to explain, which infuriated her even more.

After letting out her frustration, she sat back down to her chair and tried to calm down.

She scoffed at herself and put a hand to her forehead, a headache coming in. Seems like her goal for the week won’t come to fruition after all, feeling that by tomorrow she’ll be back to her part time job in no time.

She packed her things and left the room, her feet leading her outside and in the direction of the train station to go home, tired from the day's events. Now that _this_ happened, she only hoped that word won’t reach Momokino’s ears or else she’ll really have it. She groaned at the reminder.

“Stupid teacher, stupid boring lectures... Would have been better if I didn’t come at all…” She mumbled to herself. She decided that the lectures weren’t worth it anymore if all she’ll be feeling are feelings of dismay and regret.

Yuzu won’t be going to tomorrow’s lecture, feeling like she didn’t have anything else to lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I for one, am a Fine Arts student, and I believe that studying Art has the same difficulty as studying any other subject. I'm an Interior Designer by the way, if you wanted to know. And with that being said, one of my courses back in college included Japanese Art history, which included the basic history as well. We had to draw a ton of historical houses and famous paintings that time. Plus, I got a high grade in that class, lucky me!
> 
> Back to the chapter, sorry that it had to end this way. This had to happen to get the story going and to get their much needed character development with each other, which I hope will come soon. 
> 
> Anyways, updates might come longer since a lot of games are gonna get released in the next following months *cough* Fire Emblem *cough* and many more! So don't worry if I don't update that often, I'm just busy playing games for the meantime. 
> 
> Anyways, until the next one!


	8. Winds Of Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two are deliberately skipping their lectures, but two certain someones might be able to change their minds.

It was Thursday afternoon yet again and Yuzu was back at her part time job in the café, working as hard as ever.

The day after the whole ordeal with her tutor the week before, Yuzu spent every afternoon working to get back the shifts that she wasn’t able to cover due to her lectures. Plus, it was a good way to take her mind off her annoyance from her unreasonable tutor.

Her boss was surprised she was going back to work and asked if she could balance both her work and school lectures at the same time. Yuzu replied that she could handle it, which the older woman was thankfully accepting of her.

Yuzu was now currently washing the dishes, her mind drifting off to the source of her annoyance.

“I shouldn’t have attended that lecture in the first place, if I’ll only wind up wasting my time instead of working for money…” She mumbled to herself. She didn’t want what happened last time to happen again, so she opted to focus on her work instead of reminiscing.

She finished washing the plates and went to do kitchen duty afterwards. Yuzu smelled the sweet aroma of fresh baked desserts and pastries and asked if they needed help.

“Hey guys, do you need any help with something?” Yuzu asked once she stepped in the kitchen. One of her co-workers let out a sigh of relief when she arrived and walked closer to her.

“Good timing Yuzu-chan! We’re running out of some ingredients, do you mind if you can call the supplier to deliver some? We’re kinda in a pickle with orders.” The woman showed Yuzu a list of ingredients and a phone number. Yuzu shook her head and took the list giving them a big smile.

“No prob, I’ll handle it!” Her co-worker gave her a grateful smile.

“Thank you so much, Yuzu-chan! You’re a life saver, I’ll go back to baking now, thanks again.” With that she went back to her own work.

Yuzu went back to the employee locker room to get her phone and dialed the number of the food supplier. After ordering the specified ingredients, she was about to close her phone when she suddenly saw the contact of her school counselor on the screen.

Her mind floated back to her ‘problem’, and what came with it was her annoyance. But if she was really honest, that’s not the only thing she’s been feeling.

She was feeling guilty that the auburn-haired woman’s kindness was going to waste with all her skipping and it was slowly eating her on the inside. Yuzu let out a sigh. Deep inside, she knew she wasn’t doing the right thing but still contemplated on clicking the call button.

 _‘C’mon Yuzu, she said it was alright to call her when you needed help with something… You need help right now, right?’_ She silently encouraged herself. Right as she mustered enough courage and was about to click the button, one of her co-workers walked in the room and called for her.

“Yuzu-chan, did you call the supplier yet?” She asked noticing Yuzu’s stillness by herself.

Yuzu quickly hid her phone from view and turned to her senpai.

“Ah— Yeah! I did, they said they’ll be able to deliver them in an hour.” She answered smoothly hoping she won’t notice her nervousness, fortunately she didn’t and instead gave her a smile.

“Alright, but Yuzu-chan, you’re looking a bit pale. Want to take your break first?” She suggested. Yuzu’s thought back to the phone she was holding and the number. Maybe she needed a break after all.

“Yeah, about that, can you tell the boss I’ll be clocking out early today? I’m supposed to be meeting a friend today but I’ll be just here if you need me.” She reasoned.

The older woman nodded in understanding and gestured for her to take it easy. She left the room leaving Yuzu alone with her thoughts and feeling relieved.

Yuzu once again took her phone out then turned it on, the contact number flashing brightly on the screen. All she really needed to do now was muster up the courage again to actually click on the button.

* * *

It had been a week ever since the whole disagreement that took place in the lecture room with her student.

Mei was back in her own office, working to get her mind out of the irritation she’s been feeling since then. She tried to work hard as much as she can to cover up for the days she didn’t and began to feel the familiar feeling of exhaustion take over, she does admit though, tutoring that girl was less tiring than doing this.

She tried to hide the fact that she wasn’t coming to lectures anymore to Himeko, knowing she’d probably scold her like a typical mother would do to a child. Mei was sure Himeko was in a late scheduled meeting, she just hoped the meeting would stall her enough to safely hide away once she arrives. She was doing great laying low, until now.

The door to her office suddenly burst open, revealing a panting drill haired woman in the doorway, her head was whipping all around the room in search for something, but the simple layout of the office was enough for her vision to immediately center on Mei and stopped her search once she saw her in her chair working, which was apparently much more important than what she was supposed to do at the moment.

Mei immediately stopped her movement once she was found out, feeling a harsh lecture coming in. She readied her ears.

“M-Mei! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at lecture about now?” Mei predicted correctly, Himeko was screeching like a banshee, the shrillness of her voice threatening to destroy her eardrums. The chairwoman remained silent.

Himeko walked nearer to the desk, closing the door behind her, and tried calming her tone but worry was still present in the way she spoke, “Mei, tell me the truth.” Her eyes showed worry.

Mei sighed knowing that she’s getting out of this, “… I may have been staying here while you were out during school hours…” Mei turned her face so she wouldn’t look at the angered expression currently forming on her employee’s face, but not directed at her.

“Why? Did that Okogi Yuzu do something to annoy you?” Himeko pressed, “If she did _anything_ to you that made you irritated, I will personally—”

“She wasn’t listening to me while I was discussing…” Mei interrupted. That made Himeko make another dumbfounded face, breaking from her anger. She calmed down for a bit.

 _‘Didn’t listen to her? And here I was thinking that child was deliberately trying to stress her out…’_ Himeko could feel the awkward atmosphere resonating and tried to break it with a nervous laugh.

“Anything else other than… Not paying attention…?” She asked for more reasons that may have caused stress to the taller woman.

Mei tried to recall what happened the past week, “She seemed to think playing with her phone was more interesting than listening, so I confiscated it until the end of the session.” 

If Himeko wasn’t already surprised, she was now. Those reasons were… surprisingly simple misdeeds that can be solved with a warning. It seemed that Okogi Yuzu wasn’t all at fault, and she needed to find the whole truth before making any rash decisions.

“Mei… Can you tell me what happened?” The thick browed woman asked. Maybe listening to what Mei had to say before making any assumptions was a good idea.

“… The lessons started really well, she seemed to listen to everything I say and the first day ended on a good note.” Himeko nodded and beckoned her to continue.

“But things gradually changed on the next following days, she always seemed to be lost in thought and began playing with her phone and it got on my nerve, so I confiscated it until she can have it back,” Himeko was scrunching her eyebrows from what she was hearing.

“Finally, on the day just a week ago, she fell asleep during one of my lectures, and that’s when my patience ran out. I told her off for not valuing the opportunity given to her when she knew it was for her benefit and then she snapped at me for being a boring teacher, as she says.” Himeko visibly flinched.

That was it? It didn’t make sense… Okogi Yuzu wasn’t the type to fall asleep during lecture if she was really that determined to learn, she was sure of it. Himeko even remembered that girl actually listening to her class just the other week.

“Mei, how did you teach Okogi Yuzu?” Did she even read the student’s preference of learning?

Mei answered with a straight face, “I simply read out loud from the book that was given to me.” _That_ answer made Himeko mentally facepalm. She never pegged Mei as a person who didn’t know how to teach somebody other than herself.

“And you think that’s effective?” She needed to know.

Mei nodded, “Yes, I have last week’s pre-test results, and they looked fine.” She took out a short stack of papers and handed them all to Himeko to let her check herself. She had a surprisingly high test score.

Himeko didn’t seem convinced, “This were all due last Thursday…” She knows what’s going on now. There were a lot of things Okogi Yuzu was, but giving up wasn’t one of them.

 _‘I can’t believe I’m sticking up for… Her!’_ But Himeko can’t hide away from the truth.

Maybe the reason the blonde was looking at her phone was because she was trying to look up how to study by herself, since listening to her tutor didn’t seem to do it for her.

Maybe the reason she fell asleep during their session was because she stayed up all night studying the night before the day’s test. Himeko sighed.

And, _maybe_ … Mei really was a boring teacher…

“Mei, don’t you think you’re going about this teaching stuff the wrong way?” Like, what was the whole purpose of a personal tutor if all they were gonna do is talk all day without pause?

* * *

Somewhere in the city of Tokyo, a certain blonde sneezed out of nowhere from that statement, startling both her and her companion altogether…

* * *

Mei was genuinely confused, "But from the time I studied abroad, the professors only left notes on the board and simply left afterwards, making the class study on their own." Mei explained with an innocent expression.

"And I deemed it an effective way to study. She should be grateful I'm reading it out for her, all she has to do is listen." Mei finished. Himeko couldn't believe what she was hearing and mentally face palmed. Mei could’ve at least _asked_ her student if she even understood a word she said.

 _‘Not everybody can be like you though…’_ Himeko thought to herself.

"Mei... It's still different you know... Listening and Comprehending are two different things." Himeko said feeling a sweat drop down her head. That's what you get if you're _too_ intelligent, everything is too easy for you. She noticed that standing up was making her tired and decided to sit down next to the desk.

"You should at least give out tips if they get stuck on a question or any reading material." Himeko tried explaining as best she can, thinking that Mei's highly intellectual brain could only make studying an easy task.

"But why do I have to give out pointers if everything is in the textbook already?" Mei really couldn't understand what was wrong with her way of teaching.

"There are some things that a book can't really teach the person reading it, that's why we need teachers to help them understand it better." Himeko explained even further.

She wanted to pull out her hair from the difficulty in making Mei know that not everybody can fully understand something in a single reading like she can.

"Students work differently, you should know that people think differently and its your job to find out what works best. Maybe you should try other methods than what you do for yourself, then maybe she'll actually be more eager to learn." Himeko said straightly hoping it finally gets through to Mei.

She was met with silence and a brooding Mei.

"… I'm not suited to be a teacher, am I..." She heard Mei whisper to herself and noticed she had such a defeated look on her face.

Himeko heard a sigh, "Maybe it was a mistake to take her in. While we still have time, we could still transfer her to another teacher who is more appropriate for her..."

Himeko shook her head, "As much as I hate saying this, you know it's too late for that." She crossed her arms, "And this isn't like you at all. The Mei I know doesn't give up from one single failure, does she?" She lightly mocked.

She noticed that her answer struck a nerve in Mei, her demeanor changing into a much more determined one, but still not enough to push her to reconsider.

“Being a teacher isn’t all that easy you know,” Himeko added. “But that doesn’t mean you can just give up the first sight at failure.” Himeko encouraged.

"So how about you get yourself together and help that student pass?" Himeko gestured at the test papers on the desk turning Mei's attention on it. Those papers proved that Yuzu _did_ have the determination to try and pass, but Mei wasn’t that much of help to her at all.

Mei furrowed her eyebrows in distress, "But I don't know how to be a good teacher, or teach someone else for that matter... I'm not like my..." She didn't finish her statement, but Himeko might have a clue who she was referring to.

Himeko's face morphed into understanding, "Are you talking about Aihara Shou-sensei?" She tried asking. She was surprised to see Mei shake her head no.

Himeko tried racking her brain about who else it might be but seeing the dejected look on the raven-haired woman made her decide it wasn't the time for it.

"No matter! You should know that you don't have to be somebody else to be a good teacher, just.... Uhh trust what your gut tells you to!" Himeko doesn't seem sure of what she just said herself.

Mei tilted her head in confusion, "My gut...?"

"Forget that,” The shorter woman rushed, waving her hands in her face, “What I'm saying is everybody is different, and you shouldn't try being someone you're not! Try and find what seems right to you." Himeko proudly said with a fist to her heart.

Mei somehow understands where she's getting at but still has no clue what she could do. Mei sighed, "Teaching is hard..." She rubbed her temple, it wasn’t the same with just simply reading from a book, she had to give the teachers some credit with how hard it actually takes to be one.

Himeko let out a laugh, "I'll take that as a compliment, teaching actually takes more than just patience and self-control, you know!” She started grinning with her eyes closed proudly.

“… Says the person who was wrestling with a student just a week ago…” Mei stated matter-of-factly with an unimpressed expression on her face.

Himeko started flailing her arms in embarrassment, her face turning red at the memory, “I thought we both agreed to put that all behind us!” She whined trying to rid of that embarrassing recollection.

She only stopped her thrashing when she heard a faint laugh coming from the chairwoman herself. Himeko was genuinely surprised at that and thought she heard correctly.

“Aihara-sensei?” She asked cautiously.

Mei immediately returned to her neutral expression and let out a cough into her hand, feigning ignorance of her amusement.

“I was only teasing you, but I do appreciate you trying to cheer me up.” Mei nodded in gratitude. Himeko finally calmed down and felt relief in somehow making her friend feel better about herself.

“Do you… Have any suggestions of how to tutor someone…?” Mei shyly asked but tried to keep up her stern expression. Himeko found this adorable and wished she had something to document this rare occurrence.

She quickly racked her head of possible teaching techniques that even someone like Okogi Yuzu would quickly follow.

"How about you try and go over the whole material first then ask what she doesn't understand, and start there?" Himeko gave her suggestion not really knowing if it would prove effective with the blonde student.

Himeko bowed her head in apology, disappointed at herself for being not much of help, “I apologize for not giving any better ideas at the moment, I never anticipated this to happen!” That’s what she thought, but it did give Mei a bit of an idea.

Mei shook her head in disagreement, “No, you actually made me come up with something.” Himeko stood up straight feeling relieved.

“Then maybe I should help, I have a lot of ti—Ah!” Himeko suddenly shrieked in panic but covered her mouth afterwards.

“I forgot the reason why I came in the office! I was supposed to get the documents for the board meeting!” She hurriedly took the said documents somewhere in a filing cabinet and went straight for the door.

“Sorry for suddenly rushing away, but we both know how important this is for the school!” Then she was off… Before coming back to say her last advice for Mei.

“Forgot to tell you, you should try to look less menacing, even I get intimidated by you sometimes… Nevertheless, goodbye!” Then she was finally off leaving Mei alone to her thoughts.

Mei sighed at the odd turn of events.

She shrugged it off and went back to the current thought running through her head. The reason she came up with the idea in the first place.

She remembered the memory from long ago, when she herself was having trouble studying for something she couldn’t recall anymore.

Mei wasn’t perfect, she also had something she lacked in. But… It was somebody else’s help that discovered her true potential that made her into the person she was today. She actually almost forgotten that memory until Himeko somehow triggered it to resurface into her mind.

Mei went to find some papers in the drawer to write on before she forgets them. While trying to look for some, she stumbled upon a copy of the application papers Okogi Yuzu submitted for the program. She immediately recalled the reason why she _did_ decide on becoming her tutor.

She tried re-reading the recommendation letter she placed on the desk to help ignite the determination she felt that time. With even how many times she read the letter, her eyes focused on one thing that gave her the resolve to decide.

_“…Okogi Yuzu is different, she might lack in many things but what she does have is the will-power and resolve to finish what she started. I highly encourage to be patient with her for she might need some getting used to, but I assure you of her strength and optimism to succeed…”_

She finished reading the letter for the nth time. Everything written on it was true though, she was just too caught up with her own ego to actually realize the situation she was in. Add in the lack of time they had until exams might have something to do with it as well.

Mei sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe she had been a little too impatient and too stubborn to think that it was alright to force her own habits onto another person, even if that person was a student in Aihara Academy, they were two completely different people. Things that may work for her might not work for everybody, and _certainly_ not for her own student.

Never force to rush certain things, it takes time to achieve the success you long for. Mei learned that the hard way…

Still, she should teach her properly, in a way were they both could learn things from the other. She looked at the test results again. Yuzu did hold promise, Mei just needed to help her to let out her true potential. Until she can become a better student in her own ways, she won’t give up.

Mei suddenly thought back to Himeko’s last retort and touched her face. And _maybe_ she did need to work on her facial expressions, her face was getting a bit stiff from scowling too much.

She opened up a page from the textbooks Himeko lent her then fetched a pen to start writing on the paper she got. She tried as best as she can to make the notes as easy to understand as possible. Mei could feel the determination flowing back into her body as she continued to write and made a conclusion.

Tomorrow, she decided, she’ll attend their session one more time.

If her student decided not to show up, then she’ll take full responsibility and find her replacement as best she can, deeming herself to be inadequate in teaching.

If she does show up however, then she’ll see what she can do.

* * *

“When I said I was always available, that didn’t mean including after school hours, you know.”

Harumi grumbled to herself but made sure Yuzu heard what she was saying. She started tapping her fingers on the table waiting patiently for the younger woman to talk.

“H-hey! You’re the one who told me I could call you if I had a problem!” Yuzu replied back nervously. How was she supposed to know that ‘anytime’ meant 'no later than 5 PM'?

“Plus, you agreed to help me.” Yuzu pointed jabbed her finger on the table, “And now you’re here so… Can you _please_ hear me out?” She pleaded.

Harumi let out a breath and closed her eyes, “Yeah I agreed, but I didn’t know you were gonna make me come to this café at 7 PM in the evening _just_ to talk about your problems though.” Harumi casually pointed at her back, gesturing at the interior of the café Yuzu worked at and the window showing the pitch darkness of the sky.

Yuzu flinched at the remark but went back to her nervous self, “Yeah, I guess… But I promised you free dessert if you came, didn’t I?” She interlaced her fingers together into a begging position and did her puppy dog eyes, finally making Harumi admit defeat.

Earlier, Yuzu was still contemplating on calling the school counselor if she wanted to talk about to her about her little ‘problem’ with the school chairwoman. But it was eating at her for a week now. Deciding that she didn’t want to feel this way anymore, she finally did choose to call her in the end.

At first, it took a lot of rings to actually wake the older woman up, she was already asleep by the time she made the call. Then when she did answer, she was kinda cranky and told her to just talk to her tomorrow. Yuzu begged for her to settle her problems now, it took a long time to convince her but with the promise of free dessert was what did the trick.

Now, they were currently sitting inside the café where Yuzu worked. Beside the very corner of the establishment next to the big glass window. Even with the fancy city lights of Akihabara, it was quite dark outside. They both looked to the window, watching the people roam around the busy streets of the district. Good thing they were still wide awake, because Harumi surely wasn’t.

Harumi was grateful she lived close by and didn’t really think of it as a hassle to get here, if only she was fully awake right at the time, or it was a reasonable time to come here, is all. The moment she stepped in the café, Yuzu was already sitting in the corner wearing casual clothing that looked too hot to actual wear on a summer evening, but she wasn’t one to judge. But seeing the look on Yuzu’s face, she did seem happy seeing her come in.

Harumi sighed, “You should be thankful I like cake…” She muttered then continued tapping her fingers on the wooden table.

She was already here, so better to make it count, right? By all means eating the free dessert she’s promised and helping a student out while she’s at it. Hitting two birds in one stone.

She looked to Yuzu’s direction noticing her stillness, probably waiting for her to initiate.

“Okay fine,” Harumi held her hands out signifying they’ll go through with this, “Lay it on me.” Harumi said instantly making Yuzu into a ball of sunshine. She looked so relieved.

“Ah— Yeah! Okay umm…” Yuzu stuttered but Harumi found this cute.

Yuzu snapped her head up, remembering something, “Oh, if you’re wondering, I already ordered for us, something cheap. I really can’t handle expensive things right at the moment hehe…” Yuzu scratched the back of her head out of nervousness.

Harumi didn’t really mind and even found this amusing, this was probably her first time opening up her problems to someone and is obviously not used to it.

“I… Haven’t been going to lectures for a week now…” Yuzu admitted while her voice gradually became weaker in volume with every syllable she uttered.

Harumi widened her eye in sudden realization. So that’s why she’s been seeing the chairwoman roaming the halls after school.

And _that’s_ why she was called here so late at night, when Yuzu could have just gone to the counselor’s office if she really wanted to talk. She was going to her part time job instead, wasn’t she? She wonders where its located.

 _Both_ of them weren’t going to lectures, huh.

“Can you start at the beginning?” Harumi asked, wanting to know why the kid decided it was a good idea to skip sessions knowing well it was part of their deal.

Yuzu nodded and began to recall everything that happened from the past week. She decribed the events in full detail, from the confrontation she had with Momokino, to the way Aihara taught her during their sessions.

She added in the fact that her teaching wasn’t really doing it for her, and took matters into her own hands. Instead, studying by herself using her phone _while_ the chairwoman was right next to her, resulting in the smartphone getting confiscated.

But the very event that got into the raven-haired woman’s nerve was when she fell asleep. Apparently, she had a test that day and she stayed up all night just to study for it, and resulted into her drowsiness.

“Then she snapped at me and naturally I snapped back at her, then she walked out of the room… Uhh, end of story?” Yuzu finished.

Harumi let out a sigh from hearing the story and began to think she found what the problem is now.

She began to rub her temple, “So, you have a problem with her way of teaching?” She tried asking.

Yuzu immediately nodded, impressed, “Wow, you processed that fast…”

“Yeah well, four years of Psychology will do that to you…” She leaned against the back of the chair while crossing her arms, “Anyways, you had a problem understanding her lessons and you didn’t bother to tell her that?”

Yuzu jumped from the tone but slowly nodded her head, “I was scared she might scold me if I interrupted her…” She bowed her head down, disappointed with herself.

Well, Harumi wasn’t completely heartless. She felt that way with the chairwoman, as well. She understood her fear very well, hell, she would be scared spineless if she knew she would be spending every afternoon with the stoic faced woman.

But things won’t move forward if neither of them will try to understand each other.

Harumi tried to recall from her memory, she could have sworn she wrote something like that in the letter somewhere…

Anyhow, she urged the blonde to look at her and listen, thinking it might help her understand her situation. Yuzu slowly faced the older woman and opened her ears.

“Then why don’t you start by actually _talking_ to her and telling her all about your problems with her teaching?” The taller woman suggested. Yuzu visibly flinched at that.

Yuzu turned to the side, “I don’t think I could do that…” She nervously laughed.

The auburn-haired woman tilted her head, “Why not?”

Yuzu was shaking.

“S-She’s such… a _weirdo_!” Yuzu suddenly stood up and slammed her fist on the table, but that didn’t make Harumi flinch even a bit, she might have expected the outburst.

“It’s like she’s a ticking time bomb! She may look like she’s calm on the outside but once something doesn't go her way, she suddenly throws a fit!” Yuzu continued, remembering the way the raven-haired woman woke her up. Harumi let the blonde rant to her hearts content, knowing she needed this.

“All she does is _talk_ and look at me like I’m a disappointment, like everything I do is _so_ wrong! She doesn’t even give me a chance to explain!” She shook her head in anger.

“And have you seen the way she looks?” Then she pointed at her face, “How does she keep up with that face? Doesn’t her muscles get stiff?” She rubs her cheeks, trying to prove her point. Harumi would admit, she got a chuckle out of that.

“And… I don’t know, maybe… Maybe she was right…” Yuzu looked to the ground, “Maybe I really am not trying hard enough… That’s why I’m in this mess…” Her shoulders sunk, showing her dejected expression. Harumi figured this was the perfect time to cut in.

She gestured for Yuzu to sit down, because all the ranting she made had everyone in the café looking at her direction. This actually turned Yuzu’s face red and eventually she sank back to her seat.

Harumi gave her a concerned smile, “We have this thing called ‘communication’. If we didn’t have this, what would happen to society?” Yuzu listened attentively understanding what the older woman meant, “We’d be waging wars all the time because of a simple misunderstanding.” Harumi gestured to Yuzu.

“And we all know that everything starts in the classroom, well in your case, the two of you inside a room.” She gestured two fingers in front of her, “Now look what happened. Because of miscommunication, the two of you didn’t meet eye to eye resulting in unnecessary consequences.” She finished.

“That’s what you two need, _communication_.” After that statement, Yuzu nodded in understanding.

“I’m… willing to communicate… But what about her, is she willing to communicate with me?” She asked while crossing her arms on top of the table. “She probably doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore…” She said hopelessly, burying her face in her arms.

Harumi stared out the window, deeply in thought.

“She’s always been like that…” She muttered, bringing her hand up to her chin, leaning against it.

Yuzu brought her head up, looking at Taniguchi with a confused expression.

“What do you mean, Taniguchi-sensei?” Yuzu slowly asked. Harumi turned to face her again.

“She never really talked to anyone back in High school, she only focused on her studies and didn’t really have any friends… Maybe Momokino, but I swear, that woman was too clingy for her own good.” Harumi replied.

Yuzu’s eyes were wide open and pointed a finger at the older woman.

“Wait a minute— You, and Momokino-sensei _and_ Aihara-sensei used to go to my school!?—Wait, I get Aihara-sensei, but the three of you knew each other!?” She asked, genuinely surprised at the revelation.

Harumi let out a laugh, “Oh, didn’t I ever tell you?” The blonde shook her head no, but the revelation did seem to take her mind out of her current thoughts. She seemed a bit less angsty now.

“So how is it working alongside her now?” Yuzu curiously asked.

Harumi tilted her head in thought, how _did_ it feel working with her? Nothing changed much, just surprised her old classmate was already chairwoman at her age.

She shook her head, “Nothing really, she’s still the same old stone faced prez I used to be in the same class in.”

Yuzu noticed what she just called the chairwoman, “’Prez’?” She said confusingly.

The taller woman scratched her cheek in embarrassment, “…Yeah, she used to be student council president back then, you could already imagine how high her expectations were on her.”

“She ranks number one in everything, all the while keeping everyone in line in school. People really look up to her.” She finished.

Yuzu nodded at the answer, she already expected that much. She _is_ school chairwoman, at such a young age to boot, but something was still bugging her.

“But she never tried doing what a typical high schooler did, even if Aihara Academy was such a prestigious school, the students still had time to have fun.” Harumi added, “She however, kept to herself never talking to anybody else, unless it was a school official. That continued until we went our separate ways.”

Under all that sternness and calmness in the raven-haired woman’s demeanor, there was still something in her eye that Yuzu noticed. What her tutor had was every person’s dream. She had high standing, she was probably rich, and people respected her, why does she keep to herself? Doesn’t she get lonely?

“I don’t get it… Why does she still look so…”

_Sad...?_

Yuzu didn’t finish her sentence, but from the tone of her voice, it did give Harumi a clue what she wanted to say.

Harumi let out a breath, “I really don’t know…”

Yuzu clenched her fists. Why is she even thinking about this? She should know better than to meddle with somebody else’s life. But she couldn’t help but be curious. That look in her eye the last time they’ve seen each other, she knew it from somewhere.

“She… She has everything anybody ever dreamed of, isn’t her family proud of her?” Yuzu turned to look at Harumi straight in the eye, looking for answers. This was so strange… How did it go from hating her tutor to empathizing with her? Yuzu would be laughing if it wasn’t such a serious topic.

“…Maybe because, she never really had a family to be proud of her…” Harumi finally answered.

Yuzu was flabbergasted. Aihara-sensei had no family…? What did that mean?

She slunk back to her chair, “Wha— I-I don’t get it… What do you mean ‘never had a family’?”

Harumi stayed silent thinking it won’t really do much for Yuzu, but seeing the genuine concern on Yuzu’s face. Something in her told her it would do the opposite, letting out a sigh she complied.

Harumi looked back to the window, “I… don’t know much, but her father, who was a teacher at the school… She really looked up to him…”

“Maybe that’s why she did her best… I think… To make him proud of her…” She shook her head.

“But then, rumors started spreading that her grandfather was going to let him take over as chairman… That was the only time I actually got to see her proud of him…”

“Then the day of his election… he just suddenly vanished…” Harumi had such a pained look in her eye, reminiscing the events that happened so long ago.

“I’ve never seen the chairman so _angry_ … And as for her, she was so devasted that she shut herself out… Having nobody else to turn to in her moment of anguish…” Harumi knew this, because she witnessed it herself.

“Ever since then, she was never the same… After that she only followed what was told of her by her grandfather… And it might have affected her way of thinking, that it was no use to look up to such a disappointment in the family.” She remembered hearing those rumors spread around the school.

“Thinking that the only way she would have a purpose in this world was to follow directions and become successful with their guidance, but receiving no happiness in return.” Harumi sighed.

“… And now you know.” Harumi couldn’t believe she got her to tell her the chairwoman’s past without the kid even doing anything. Her throat was dry from all the talking, wondering when their food was going to arrive.

Yuzu on the other hand, was utterly speechless.

She never knew that what the chairwoman was going through was so horrible. Yuzu was struck with the familiar sense of loneliness, the feeling starting to cling to her heart feeling empathy for her tutor, she knew quite well how it felt to be alone with nobody there to turn to.

Seems like they did have something in common after all... The only difference was they both had their own way to cope with the loneliness and in turn, they grew up with different perspectives towards how they lived their life.

Harumi noticed Yuzu's silence and called out to her.

“So, what’re you gonna do now knowing all that?” She asked Yuzu.

Yuzu finally woke up from her train of thought. She cleared her throat and thought of what she would say.

“I think… I understand her a bit better now.” She solemnly smiled. “And I'll _try_ and open up to her, I… Just need to find out how.” Yuzu finished but she seemed much better than what she looked like earlier.

Harumi smiled back in relief knowing Yuzu was willing to try. “So does that mean you’ll go back to your lectures?” She tried.

Yuzu simply shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t have a choice, I had a deal with a certain someone, and I’d hate to waste her kindness.” She giggled.

The counselor let out a laugh, “Yeah it’d be a waste.”

The both of them started laughing, the melancholic atmosphere from earlier eventually turned into delight, the both of them started talking about mundane things.

Some time later, while Yuzu tried asking about Harumi’s old High school life, which she desperately tried to avoid. A waitress in a French maid outfit suddenly walked up to them, carrying with her some cake desserts and iced teas.

“Hey Yuzu-chan! Sorry it took so long, it was hard recreating your recipe,” She placed the plates on their table.

Yuzu had a proud look, “Of course it’s going to be hard, you guys need to try harder to master it!” The waitress giggled.

“Anyways, here you go! Enjoy!” And with that, she left to entertain the other customers entering the café. Harumi noticed the waitress’s familiarity with the blonde and vice versa.

 _‘Guess she’s a regular here…’_ Harumi thought. All the talking they just did didn’t give her enough time to check the place out. Her eyes roamed all over the interior.

It was a simple café, with the popular twist of French maid costumes added in for the waitresses. It was located at a very unpopular corner spot in Akihabara, so she wouldn’t really know of this place unless someone invited her to.

The interior was very simple, the typical black and white checkered tiles and white paint on the wall, classic French glass doors and windows and modern classical styled wooden furniture. _Very_ old style French is what you’d have to say, but this is what you’d typically see in any other maid café really, but there was this refreshing feeling of homey-ness in the atmosphere. She’d get why Yuzu would like this place.

Harumi noticed that Yuzu already started with her cake and began eating as well.

“So why pick this café?” Harumi asked while taking a big sip from her drink, tired from talking all evening.

Yuzu stopped eating and anxiously scratched her cheek.

She then let out a nervous laugh. “About that, this is actually where I work…” Harumi almost choked on her drink from that answer, but with a bit of luck she didn’t choke to death and actually managed to swallow the liquid down her throat. Yuzu was panicking by the time she was finished.

“A-are you okay!?” D-do I need to do something!?” Yuzu was desperately trying to find something she could help her with, but Harumi casually waved her hand in front of her face signaling she was fine as she can ever be.

She wheezed, “N-no, it’s fine. I’m all good.” Harumi’s heart was pounding from her ‘near-death’ experience and just tried breathing in deeply to keep a calm composure.

A minute later she was back to her normal self, almost.

A breath, “So, what were we talking about?” She casually asked, with a smile and her hands intertwined on the table like the scene from earlier totally never happened.

Yuzu felt a sweat drop at the sudden change of demeanor, but found it funny how she acted like nothing was wrong, such an unusual feat from a serious person like Taniguchi-sensei.

“Okay… Uhh… This café is where I do my part-time job at.” She answered again, but couldn’t contain her giggle from the awkwardness of the situation.

Harumi let out a frustrated sigh and rested her head in her hands, “You should have at least waited until I was finished with my iced tea, that was so embarrassing…” She turned her head to the window to avoid Yuzu’s amused face, but Yuzu’s laugh was contagious and soon she began laughing as well.

“Well, I didn’t know you were gonna choke on your drink with my answer!” Yuzu continued laughing.

“So that’s why the waitresses knew you.” Harumi wondered.

Yuzu nodded in reply, “Yeah, they’re actually my co-workers.” She pointed the them. She took a fork and pierced off a piece from the cake they ordered. Harumi also started eating as well.

“Gotta say, for a cheap price, the cake’s good.” She said while munching on her strawberry cheesecake.

Yuzu proudly smiled, “Thank you for the compliment! If you didn’t know, I make some of the cakes here.” She said while pointing at their cakes with her fork, “And all of them are best sellers!” Yuzu finished with a giggle.

They talked a bit more with their topics ranging from the cakes to the types of food they both like.

“You like omu-rice? You should try mine then!” Yuzu giddily said, “I do the breakfast menu every weekend, you should come by then!” She then pointed to herself.

“My omu-rice is different, once you have a taste, you’ll be craving for more!” She giggled.

They talked a bit more again, but small chats this time, soon it was almost closing time for the café and both Yuzu and Harumi were both mostly finished with their food. Sooner or later they’ll be needing to head home now. They would both admit though, they never knew they would have so much fun from a simple meeting that was supposed to be problems that turned into them hanging out at night.

“Hey, for an older person, you’re kinda fun to be around with!” Yuzu said with a genuine smile. Harumi gave a small smile back, she would agree as well, Yuzu was also fun to be around with.

“You too, kid.” Harumi nodded finishing her cake.

Yuzu started beaming, “Then that means we could hang out again, right?” Harumi could see the sparkles in her eyes. Harumi shook her head in amusement and went to finish her drink.

“Don’t get your hopes up kid!” She slammed the glass softly onto the table, “Remember, I know where you work now, so that means you better behave yourself from now on, you hear me?” She sternly said, but couldn’t keep up with the seriousness and eventually started laughing, soon Yuzu also joined her laughter. 

Once the laughter died out, they were panting from lack of breath.

“Maybe I’ll think about it.” Harumi winked in Yuzu’s direction, making the blonde send her a smile from ear to ear.

“Yeah—Achoo!” Yuzu suddenly sneezed startling the both of them. She rubbed her nose a bit confused. Harumi let out another laugh.

“I think that means we should head home now.” Yuzu nodded at the suggestion. Was she coming down with a cold or something? Or maybe somebody was just talking about her, who knows.

They stood up and asked for the bill, Yuzu insisted that she’d pay but Harumi already knew that it’ll take a portion out of her paycheck and insisted that she pay, thinking of it as a thank you gift for the fun night.

Yuzu accompanied the older woman to the café doors, Harumi inviting her to walk with her to the train station, with Yuzu thanking her for the offer but ultimately declined, saying that she still had to finish cleaning up. Harumi nodded in understanding and bid her a good night. But Yuzu forgot to tell her something.

“Taniguchi-sensei!” She called out. Thankfully she heard her before she turned the corner, turning head waiting for what Yuzu was about to say.

“Thanks for today!” She yelled. She could see the older woman give a small smile.

“Anytime!” She replied with a grin and waved her hand, finally disappearing into the corner of the street.

Once the auburn-haired woman was out of her sight, Yuzu walked back inside to the employee changing area to get her belongings. Her thoughts flew back to what she discovered about her tutor.

 _‘All this time she was always alone…’_ She thought to herself. If she knew earlier then maybe she’d been more considerate of the raven-haired woman’s feelings. She always thought she was acting like that because of her ego or something. How could she have known she was hurting inside as well.

She took her belongings and bid her co-workers a good night heading towards the train station.

Yuzu was back to her thoughts. Maybe she was too caught up in her own stubbornness that she didn’t even think of trying to tell her tutor the problem, that maybe she didn’t at least _try_ and tell her that she didn’t understand a single word she’d been saying for three whole hours straight.

But then again, maybe it was her fear that was stopping her from doing just that. She was too afraid that stepping out of line, even if it wasn’t on purpose, would send her straight to expulsion. Though deep inside, Yuzu never really felt that her tutor would really do that, she would need to be evil if that would actually happen.

Yuzu concluded that she was just a coward and was afraid of her own mistakes, trying to do things on her own without even telling the older woman of her intentions.

Studying on her own with her phone, then getting it confiscated? Her fault.

Falling asleep during session because she stayed and studied up all night? Her fault.

Snapping at Aihara-sensei because she thought she wasn’t doing her job right? _Her_ fault.

Aihara-sensei wasn’t even doing anything wrong. She should have been grateful she was teaching her at all, but it just wasn’t what she expected. But there’s a thing called communication, and that’s what they’re missing. That’s what she would have done to get through to her if she ever wanted to do this right.

Yuzu was the one who needed help, she should have been more eager, but Aihara-sensei was just so… _her_. The way she looked made it so hard to even interrupt her during sessions, much less start a conversation. But all that’s going to change. Communication…

Yuzu nodded her head in determination, drawing to a conclusion.

Tomorrow, she decided, she’ll attend their session one more time.

If her teacher decided not to show up, then she’ll take full responsibility and continue doing what she’s been doing all week long even how hard it is, and consider herself an insensitive student.

If she does show up however, then she’ll see what she can do.

* * *

It was finally the dreaded day. The school day started and ended as usual, but Yuzu could’ve sworn Momokino-sensei was glaring daggers at her all morning. What was her problem… Did she somehow find out about her situation?! She hoped not…

She stood outside the door to their lecture room, her heart hammering in chest from the anticipation. She just didn’t know what was stopping her from opening the door. Seriously, why does Yuzu always gets so nervous whenever she’s standing in front of one in this school?

 _‘I’ve reached this far, why not go all the way while I’m already here?’_ Yuzu thought to herself holding her hand out reaching for the door handle.

 _‘I just need to slide it with my hand and…’_ She clutched the handle ready to slide it open, but even how hard she tried, there was one small force from doing just that.

Yuzu let out a huge sigh and slumped her shoulders, still not ready on confronting her tutor. She wiped her head from any sweat forming and tried to recollect her thoughts.

 _‘Is she even inside is the question…’_ She crossed her arms thinking deeply of the situation and her lack of courage from entering the room.

The blonde tilted her head with her eyes closed. _‘Maybe she’s not even here, yeah I should just go home and— No!’_ Yuzu frantically shook her head clearing away any thoughts of giving up.

She held up her hand again, reaching for the handle. She took a deep breath and readied to slide the door open.

_‘Okay, here it goes… One, two, three—’_

“Okogi-san?” Yuzu almost jumped from hearing the familiar voice of her tutor. She turned her head to the hallway and met the eyes of the stern yet confused Aihara-sensei.

“A-Aihara-sensei! G-good afternoon!” Yuzu stuttered and bowed to greet her teacher, Mei nodded in reply.

“Good afternoon to you as well, Okogi-san. May I ask why you are standing outside the doorway?” Mei asked.

Yuzu racked her brain with any ideas with how to answer but decided it was best to tell the truth.

‘ _Remember Yuzu, communication…’_ She reminded herself.

She scratched her cheek in embarrassment, “I was just… Encouraging myself to go inside.” She answered. Hey, it wasn’t a complete lie, right?

Fortunately, Mei seemed to accept the answer and nodded her head. “Then perhaps we should both go inside, correct?” She suggested.

Yuzu immediately nodded in reply and slid the door open making way for the both of them to come inside the room.

They both sat in their respective seats and tried to prepare for their studying materials, but both seemed to be reluctant at looking at each other’s direction. Finally, after they finished preparing, they seemed to wait for the other to be settled but neither of them tried to initiate to begin.

They sat in complete silence.

A few awkward seconds later someone finally broke the tension.

“I...”

“I...”

They both said at the same time. They were startled at the other’s voice and paused, gesturing to one another to let the other start, until neither one wanted to and both of them sat in silence once more.

Yuzu realized that they won’t go anywhere if this kept continuing and decided that she’ll have to start, plus she really couldn’t take the awkward tension anymore.

She turned her head so she won’t have to look at Mei’s face, “I… wanted to say sorry about my behavior the past week… And that it was all my fault. It’s really been eating at my conscience and that’s why I came here… And I’m relieved I did…” Yuzu started.

“I’m really relieved that… You decided to come to lectures ‘cause I really don’t know what would happen if you didn’t....” She said, her face flushing red from letting it all out.

“So yeah… Sorry…” Yuzu bowed her head low from the awkwardness. She didn’t see the older woman’s reaction to all of this, but she hoped it wasn’t bad.

She heard a sigh, “I… wanted to apologize as well.” Yuzu was genuinely surprised and lifted her head up to look. Aihara’s face was turned away, avoiding at looking at her as well. It was obvious that she was flustered from her apology and Yuzu remained silent thinking she might had more to say.

“I… honestly didn’t think that you would be coming as well, since I may have been a little harsh the past week. That is why I would want to sincerely apologize for being an inadequate tutor to you.” Mei released another breath.

“I have since then realized that I shouldn’t force my own strategy to an entirely different person, and that to be a good educator, it would have been best to help make studying easier to understand, and to not rush things, instead setting it in your own pace.”

Mei gave a big bow, “Again, I sincerely apologize.” Yuzu started flailing her arms and telling her tutor to stand up.

“A-Aihara-sensei you don’t have to do that!” Yuzu requested. Seriously this was just too much coming from the chairwoman herself. Mei eventually stood up back to a straight posture and looked at Yuzu in the eye.

“Then does that mean you forgive my mistakes?” She asked.

Yuzu flailed on her sear, “W-wa-wait, I should be the one at fault here! You shouldn’t even be apologizing!” Yuzu softly yelled making an ‘X’ shape with her arms in front of her.

Mei had a straight face shaking her head, “No, I insist.” Yuzu sighed, here they were back to being stubborn.

Yuzu slumped back to her seat. Again, not going anywhere if they continue like this. What did Taniguchi-sensei tell her? Understand each other. Right…

“Umm, Aihara-sensei, let’s calm down a bit and think about this clearly.” Yuzu suggested. Mei nodded in reply and sat there silent.

Yuzu seemed to notice that the older woman was waiting for her to talk and thought that maybe this was her way to let her take the lead in this even if she was the student, which was kinda strange, but in a refreshing way.

“We both might be at fault here, and we both also want to apologize, so how about we call it even and start anew?” Yuzu clasped her hands together in nervousness, not knowing what she’d expect. She saw her teacher relax in her seat and nodded, realizing that they were being ridiculous.

“I agree, we should both start and learn from each other’s mistakes.” Yuzu felt relieved at hearing her say her peace and jumped in joy inside her head. She nodded her head as well. The awful awkward atmosphere from earlier finally disappearing into feelings of solace for the both of them.

Communication really is the key.

“Okay! Since that’s settled, how about we try and start from the very beginning!” Yuzu let out her hand in the form of a handshake.

“Hi, I’m Okogi Yuzu, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” She said, beaming. Mei would have thought she was seeing an angel but willed away the thought. She looked at her open hand, but instead of declining like before, she slowly reached out her own grasping Yuzu’s.

“It’s… a pleasure to meet you as well, I am Aihara Mei and I’ll be your tutor from now on.” She returned the handshake. Yuzu could have sworn there was a hint of a smile forming on the older woman’s face but shrugged it off, blaming it on the light.

They both sat down on their seats and began their lecture. Mei gave out her studying ideas to Yuzu and testing if they would work for her. She hoped they do. And Yuzu trying as hard as she can to learn and to get along with the woman.

This won’t guarantee that disagreements won’t happen anymore, but they’re learning from their mistakes little by little.

Hopefully this time around, they were going to do this right from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! How's that for big? 
> 
> Thanks for reading this humongous chapter! I originally planned to cut this into two separate parts, but decided against it, 'cause I thought it would make it feel redundant and incomplete. Well, this was the end result!
> 
> Fire Emblem has finally released and I'll be taking a short break to put my time there. I'm so excited! Don't worry, I've started with some of my chapters and I won't purposely abandon this for a game.
> 
> Until the next update!


	9. Catching Up On Remembering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The examination week draws closer, while Mei and Yuzu continue their lectures together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, sorry for letting you wait for long! Fire Emblem took a while.
> 
> Anyways, here's the next chapter! Yet another one hard to write. I swear, I don't know why I keep writing chapters longer than they should be. Plus the chapter title sucks... Heads up, this is a very boring chapter, well for me at least. They keep studying and studying and they don't stop. I apologize in advance.
> 
> Without further ado, the chapter!

It’s already been two weeks since Mei and Yuzu stopped skipping and were actually able to move on and settle with their differences. Soon things started to change for the better and the days passed by like a snap and now, only a weekend was left until the semesterly examinations finally begin.

It is now the last Friday, but even with the date of the examination week slowly creeping closer, they weren’t feeling any nervousness from it at all, but instead, the exhilarating feeling of awareness of the anticipation for the upcoming challenge was letting them give out their best.

After their little disagreement was over, Mei was able to tutor Yuzu in a way where they could both learn from the other.

Mei read out each reading material one by one, with extra pointers this time and summarizing lengthy passages if necessary, making everything as easy to understand as possible, even shortly taking breaks if they had to.

Afterwards, she had Yuzu recite what they went over to check if she truly understood the lesson, filling in any blanks if she missed out on something. Surprising her earlier assumption, the younger woman was able to catch onto everything she taught without struggle.

The dark-haired woman needed to know if the student _really_ did have what it takes to pass, Mei provided mock exams to check even further, making sure to help the young blonde if she was ever stuck on a problem, but only giving out small hints to ensure she was answering correctly with her own determination and skill. With Mei’s modified exam, this was a sure way to know where her student excelled in and where she didn’t.

But from the look of things, the girl was firing through every question with sheer accuracy, not even bothering to ask for any clues, it seemed that this will end well.

“And…. Done!” Yuzu said with a confident smile donning her face while putting her pencil down. She slid the test papers forward to Mei’s side of the desk to let her check her work. The older woman doesn’t know where the girl gets her optimism from, she was simply turning in a test, but didn’t question further only thinking of it as part of her personality.

Mei slowly slid the papers close to her and checked each answer carefully. The young blonde surprised her yet again, not one question was left unanswered.

She then checked to see if the answers were actually correct and was delighted to see they were, though were missing a few key points, but those were minor details and weren’t beneficial unless you’re going for a perfect score which was obviously not what they were going for. Mei reminded herself to give out some notes for them later.

She guaranteed that Yuzu was ready enough to pass even her difficult pre-test, but she knew that the real test questions would be harder than hers, and they need to be fully prepared for it.

But that didn’t seem to be a problem with how well they were progressing now though. Mei continued checking the other test questionnaires. Seeing the continued excellence in Yuzu’s answers, Mei’s previous feeling of inadequacy from the week prior from today was slowly diminishing, turning it into a good sense of accomplishment and confidence.

Mei finished grading the papers and looked up to see her student looking at her with a nervous but excited expression written all over her face, probably waiting to hear the results of her test.

As soon as their eyes met, they immediately averted their eyes away from each other.

Right.

Even with how well they were progressing academically, their relationship certainly wasn’t. They were civil enough to have a normal teacher-student dynamic, but couldn’t help but feel the awkward tension whenever they were alone together in the room.

It may be due to the fact that the two of them had completely different personalities altogether. The younger woman was too hyper and loud for her own good although she did seem to quiet down through the weeks. And Mei herself was a simple and silent person.

But Mei didn’t really think of this much. What would she gain if they ever break this dynamic? None. Additionally, the reason she even got into this situation was to solve the problem at hand. And that was to help this girl to pass to be able to graduate. That’s _it_.

She wouldn’t get anymore benefits from getting any further attached with her student other than doing the school a favor. What they were now is where they should be, Mei only seeking the efficiency of her own work to help the girl, which proved to be working already.

“… Aihara-sensei? How’s my test?” The younger woman asked with a nervous expression. Mei was too caught up in her own thoughts that she forgot to actually give her the results of the mock exam. Her silence might have made the girl nervous, thinking that she did poorly and that made her call out to her.

Mei shook her head dismissively, clearing away anymore unnecessary thoughts and handed the papers back to Yuzu, turned over. Mei waited patiently to see her reaction.

She saw the girl let out a huge breath and slowly turned the papers over. Gone was the nervous look she sported earlier, a face beaming with pure happiness was what replaced it once she’d seen the first test paper with a high grade.

She continued to flip through every paper, checking if they had the same result like the first one. Her smile grew wider.

Same thing. All of them had high marks.

Yuzu immediately jumped for joy from the outcome that it may have startled the silent tutor from the sudden action. Finally noticing the shocked teacher, Yuzu stopped her little celebration and sat back down in her seat in embarrassment.

It took a few moments for the both of them to compose themselves.

Mei nodded and cleared her throat, “I guess this does call for congratulations, I expected as much that you would pass, but I did not predict that you would actually get a high mark from this difficult exam I prepared.” Mei stated.

She read from a particular source from somewhere that giving compliments and praises where it is due was a good way to motivate the student to do better. Like what she was doing right now, she was basically praising her student for her high grade, but knowing herself, it didn’t really translate from her mind very well, it somehow sounded that she was belittling the girl, but she hoped that Yuzu would understand it either way.

She saw the girl give out a small smile, showing her appreciation. Yuzu turned back to her test answers, she seemed to be deep in thought.

Mei ignored that for a moment and turned to her side to get more notes. Just as soon as she opened her bag, a loud beeping sound resounded in the room. Yuzu had a somehow panicked look and immediately took out her phone to rid of the noise then hid it behind her back.

“Sorry Aihara-sensei…” She said accompanied by a nervous laugh.

Mei shifted her look at her own wristwatch and checked the time. Their three hours were already up. Looking outside the window will also indicate that it was already night time, and it was time to go home.

Mei shook her head and dismissed the apology.

“No need to apologize, there is nothing wrong with setting an alarm once lecture ends.” She neutrally stated and she meant that, time is essential. Time lost is time wasted that should have been used doing better and more important things.

“Nonetheless, you may keep those papers and use them as reviewers once you study at home.”

Yuzu nodded with her statement and started packing her belongings, getting ready to go home. Mei followed fixing her belongings as well.

After the two were ready to leave, Yuzu stopped and turned to her teacher having one more question to ask.

“Umm… Aihara-sensei, before we go I wanna ask something.” She started. “I only have about two days left for studying, and I’m gonna do them all myself. The only reason I made it this far is because of your help… I’m not really good at memorizing stuff especially when I’m by myself, so I was wondering if you have any tips for it?” Yuzu finished.

She knew of Yuzu’s weakness in memorizing certain things such as dates and names, she was much better at studying recorded events. Truthfully, Mei had no idea what sort of tips she should give the girl. Studying and memorizing came naturally to her, and she never had to rely on any strategies to learn better, unless…

Another long-lost memory re-emerged to the surface of Mei’s mind, surprising her that she forgotten it in the first place. A memory from her childhood, when she used to have a difficult time remembering certain things as well. She remembered someone teaching her that...

 _‘Why… Why do I keep remembering my childhood…?’_ Mei asked to herself. It was true though, ever since she started tutoring, more and more memories from her past keep appearing in her mind. They weren’t really… unpleasant memories, but she might as well be better off not remembering any of them at all.

She looked at Yuzu’s direction, finding her still waiting for a response. Maybe those sudden recollections might have proved some use after all.

“I may have an idea… But I cannot guarantee it will work entirely…” Mei answered. She was a getting embarrassed with the thought with what she’s going to say next.

“I heard that people who intake sugary substances help make them focus better. I also heard about a certain strategy to benefit with this.” Mei started.

“Eating different flavored candies while reading might help you recall better, such as eating chocolate for example, your brain will associate what you’ve learned or read while eating that flavor when trying to recall for an answer.” Mei explained with a self-conscious look and looked away for a bit. “It’s basically associative learning, but a much different take on it.”

Mei doesn’t know why, but sharing that tidbit of information of hers had the opposite feeling she anticipated, instead she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders.

She turned back to see the curious look on her student, Yuzu rubbed her cheek trying to understand her words.

“So, it’s like when I eat chocolate while studying, I’ll just need to remember the taste of chocolate when trying to remember something?” Yuzu asked confused. This seems harder than it sounds, and those words were already hard to understand.

Mei nodded at the remark, summarizing it accurately. “Yes, that sounds about right.”

Yuzu grunted in distress, “It kinda sounds hard, but I’m willing to try.” Yuzu nodded and gave an appreciative look.

“Thanks sensei!” Mei accepted the thanks and finally went along their way to the front entrance.

“Though I may add, try to refrain from eating too much sweets, eating enough might help the circulation of blood to the brain, but too much might do the opposite.” Mei added. Yuzu hummed in reply as they continued walking.

They both reached the gates of the school, and Mei realized that she had just run out of food at home and just thought of visiting the local supermarket, opposite the way to her house.

Just as she turned around and started walking a voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Aihara-sensei… “ Mei heard her student call out to her. She paused in mid-step and turned back around to face the younger woman.

“Thank you _so_ much. I know that this doesn’t really prove anything,” Yuzu gestured to the test papers still in her hands, “But I really do appreciate your help.” She said with tired, nervous conviction in her voice, but full of determination nonetheless.

The taller woman let out a sigh, “One last thing Okogi-san, please do get some sleep, even under all that make-up I could clearly see that you tire yourself out with the studying. All this effort would be wasted if you manage to fall asleep on the actual exam day.” Mei chided, but not in a cruel way that she expected.

“Furthermore, I sincerely bid you good luck on your exams, Okogi-san.” Without her knowing, she let out a small smile not visible in the darkness of the streets, but a smile whatsoever.

They both bid each other goodbye, with Yuzu giving out a huge waving motion with her arm, and off their separate ways going the opposite direction.

This is where Mei will start playing the waiting game, waiting for the end result of her efforts. She shrugged her shoulders and continued her way to the market.

Something in her mind told her they won’t go to waste at all.

* * *

Yuzu arrived at her apartment complex an hour later.

As always, she sneaked into the room after checking that nobody was there, silently going inside her bedroom. Once inside, she placed her school bag and plastic of groceries on a stool by her nite table and promptly threw herself on her bed, tired from studying all week.

While getting cozy on her soft mattress, her gaze shifted over to the small white plastic bag sitting idle on the chair. It didn’t really contain much, Yuzu remembered that she didn’t have any sweet stuff at home so she bought sweets and stuff when she stopped by the nearby convenience for a short while earlier, remembering what her tutor advised her.

Yuzu expected something very practical or pragmatic studying techniques that would come from her teacher’s mouth, not something about sweets. Well, if you add in the fact the sugar does increase brain activity, then it does kinda make sense.

But still! That was something she never expected her to say. Yuzu did know where that particular advice came from, but somewhere in her mind told her it came from a special memory from the older woman, she guesses.

Ever since they made up, Yuzu found herself from dreading their lectures to somehow actually having fun attending them. It might be because of the new aura the chairwoman was emitting whenever they’re together in the room. From her previous up tightness, her teacher actually started encouraging Yuzu and even gives her praises when she does a good job on something. That was definitely a change.

Yuzu pushed herself off the bed while stretching her limbs, figuring that she had enough of a rest and should start studying right about now.

Two more days and tonight before examination week. Phew, she could do this.

Still in her school uniform, she sat down on her study chair and took out her books, and test reviewers, particularly from the Humanities sections. It’s a good thing it was already the end of the week, she’s planning to study again all night tonight to finally conquer the bane of her existence until she grows tired, that it.

She began reading and jotting down more notes, having a really hard time understanding the lessons. A few hours later, she still tried to keep up with the words and dates.

“I get the stories and stuff, but I can’t fit all of them inside…” She grunted and let her face fall down onto the desk, making a loud thud in the process. Not even _one_ word really sticking to her head.

She understands the events happening in history but what she couldn’t understand was _when_ or _what_ or _who_ was actually in it.

Yuzu rolled her head to the side and spied the plastic bag she brought home earlier, sitting idly on the wooden stool. Maybe now was a good time to test if the sweets method actually works.

She took the bag and opened up the packaging wrap, taking one random sweet and popping it into her mouth savoring the taste, then went back to her studying.

_‘Ooh, strawberry flavor.’_

Yuzu continued reading her notes, not knowing what else to expect while eating the candy. She took the mock exam papers Aihara-sensei gave her and started making up her own exam sheet questionnaire on another piece of paper. Even with her high test result from the mock exam, there were still a handful of questions she got wrong in and she was determined to correct her mistakes.

The candy soon melted right as she was done reviewing for the questions she rewrote. She popped another one in, this time chocolate melted in her mouth and began reading on a different section of the lesson.

Yuzu continued doing this until she finished studying the entire questionnaire and wished for the best with the experiment.

She started answering her mock test and surprisingly, every question she came across were so familiar in her mind, as long as she could recall the flavored candy she was eating at the time, she could answer with ease.

She finished answering and without hesitation took the answer sheet to check if any of them were right. And look at her luck, they were!

Yuzu was giddy with excitement and started jumping around in her room. All that sugar was giving her the energy to do that.

“Whoo! That was great!” Yuzu said while she went back to her chair, flailing her arms out in happiness.

Yuzu did _not_ expect this to actually work, but she’s not complaining. She likens this to people who study with music playing, and understands them a bit better now. She never got into it, the music kept distracting her and made her focus more on the music than what she was reading.

But this though, using her taste as a way to remember better was the way to go, plus she gets to enjoy the candy as well. What did Aihara-sensei say? Something about associative memory… Whatever! that’s what happening right now, and it’s working pretty well.

She wanted to thank her teacher for this amazing advice but didn’t know how. She doesn’t know what yet, something tells her that passing her exams was good enough for the meantime. Though she can’t shake her gratitude away, another person comes into mind thinking about how she received this but of salvation.

Taniguchi-sensei. If it wasn’t for her, she wouldn’t even be in this school anymore, and all the other events that transpired from the weeks before wouldn’t have happened at all. She got to meet Aihara-sensei, and sure they had a rocky start, but they were past that now and she’s doing better than ever.

“What should I give her…” Yuzu whispered to herself.

Yuzu turns her head and sees that there was a bit of candy left inside the bag, and takes another random one and pops it in.

It was a very citrusy flavor, slowly spreading in her taste buds, it was strange how she only came across this flavor right now. Came with it was a sourness she couldn’t handle but slowly dissolves into sweetness. The blonde checked the packaging on the wrapper and read out the flavor of her namesake. ‘Yuzu’, how fitting.

“That’s it!” She suddenly exclaimed.

Yuzu was suddenly hit by creative inspiration, ripping out a spare page from her notepad, writing words on the paper. She knows _exactly_ what she’s gonna give the school counselor.

And if all goes well, she might give her tutor one as well.

Finishing her writing, her phone suddenly rings again, signaling the time as midnight. Another memory from earlier popped into her mind, about her tutor worrying about her health. You won’t really call it ‘worrying’, more like ‘ordering’ her, but telling her to rest up and get enough sleep before the test was a nice sentiment, and Yuzu smiled at the thought.

She’ll turn in early for her sake, plus she needed her beauty sleep, too.

Tomorrow morning, she might stop by the café if she had the time, sure it was a waste of effort and time that should have been for studying, but looking at her results now… She feels confident enough that the two weeks of studying were enough and she should take a break now.

She stretched one last time and set off to take a late-night bath leaving the note, full of ingredients written on it, on top of her desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't understand the advice Mei gave, it's basically eating the candy while studying. 
> 
> It goes like this: Study a part of a lesson while remembering the flavor you ate at the time, and trying to remember the both of them when you try to answer. I didn't come up with the idea though, one of my tutors recommended it to me when I was stuck with something, and I normally memorize really well, it's only when I particularly like the lesson that I don't. 
> 
> I tried this myself and it works for me. It might not work for everybody but it's worth a try. I try to remember the flavor and suddenly I remember things that came with it. And big thanks for the Comments and Kudos you guys left, leave more 'cause they will keep me going, but not really necessary, haha! 
> 
> But do leave a comment for this chapter, so I can improve, I really don't know what to say about this one.
> 
> Anyways, until the next update!


End file.
